Golden Rays
by PIRATEYOUFOUNDTHISPROFILECONGR
Summary: A wandering artist looking for redemption from his sins, a flute-playing prophet, a white wolf looking to restore the land of Nippon, and one eight-headed dragon searching for revenge.
1. Prologue

**NOTE: While I was typing chapter three, I came back to this chapter for some reason. I had to edit two mistake that I noticed right off the bat. **

**Because I'm bored and think it will be fun, I'll be naming each part and chapter as we go along. (In case you didn't know, the game is divided up into three parts. Each part has a boss: Orochi for the first, Ninetails for the second, and Yami for the third.) (Great. Now I have to restart the game... again.) Well, I don't know when the next update will be, seeing as I'm working on my other fic, but it will be someday. I don't leave things hanging. :)**

**Oh, yeah! I also forgot. Whenever they explain everything in the beginning, I skipped all the scenery, since they're just pictures and not moving. Holy trap, this is a long prologue. 0.o Also, you will notice that I group everything together in each chapter. (i.e. The whole beginning part where Ammy comes to life, Kamiki Village, Hana Valley, Shinshu Field, Agata Forest, etc.)**

**DISCLAIMER: This will be for the whole thing: I do not, and never will, own Okami. Clover Studios, which doesn't exist anymore, does. Amaterasu, Issun, Orochi... all of them belong to the creators of Okami.**

* * *

**PART ONE: Rebirth of the Goddess**

**Golden Rays**

**Prologue**

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a tiny village by the name of Kamiki. Legend tells of a horrible beast that threatened the residents. It also tells of the wolf that risked it all to protect them. Controlling the very fabric of existence, this wolf stood up against a beast many times its size and banished the darkness. This ethereal wolf's valiant act ushered in an era of tranquility. The villagers' hearts swelled with respect and adoration of the wolf..."

A lone, glowing white wolf raced low to the ground with blazing azure eyes wide and alert. A long trail of flowers sprung up at the she-wolf's heels, and bits of pollen floated off into the cool night air. A divine instrument sat upon her back, a large green disc with ancient scribbles inscribed in it, and it was surrounded by a bright orange and white flame that heated up the wolf. Her paws came up close to her with every flying step she took, and her tail fanned out behind her, its black-tipped end dripping ink on the dew-ridden grass behind her.

She raced along a long, twisting yellow path with long strides, her speed matching that of a cheetah and her eyes sharp. Red markings shone brightly in the moonlight, racing up and down her side and making a circle on her forehead. She ran against the wind, leaves blowing into her face on the wind and her claws tearing up the ground behind her. She veered right in a wide arc, determination evident in her ice blue gaze.

Within moments, she was racing along the waves on a stark white beach. A trail of sand, leaves, grass, and flowers kicked up at her heels, dissipating before they could start growing. As she rounded another bend which took her to the fields, she gave a long, elegant, flying leap into the air. Her paws made landfall on a rock canyon as she jumped again to the right on another rock, and then to another. She jumped on two more rocks, criss-crossing the waterfall that stood in between them. Grabbing onto the ledge with her paws, she made a frontflip in the air and landed on the top of the canyon that overlooked the fields that many people called 'Shinshu Fields.'

She reached her head forward slowly and then threw it back with the force of a bull and let loose a long, eerie, bone-chilling howl, and then, the people across Nippon knew that their guardian wolf goddess still watched over them...

o O o O o O o

"Long, long ago, a tiny hamlet known as Kamiki lay nestled in a grove of proud and beautiful cherry blossoms. Each and every tree around the quiet burg was honored as a god. However, the village was not without its dark secrets. To satiate the appetite of Orochi, a fearsome cave-dwelling beast, a young maiden was offered as a sacrifice at the annual festival. With a body like a mountain and eight heads mounted on necks the size of tree trunks, its blood-red eyes alone were said to curse anyone who gazed into them. No one dared disobey the horrific beast. When the night of the sacrifice drew near... A mysterious white wolf appeared  
outside the village. This wolf, its coat as brilliant as snow, was dubbed Shiranui.

The wolf kept a watchful eye on anyone who ventured outside the village, and made a habit of patrolling the streets at night. People assumed the wolf to be a familiar of Orochi. One villager took it upon himself to face the fearsome Shiranui. The warrior Nagi attempted many times to challenge the wolf, but his attempts were thwarted by Shiranui's swift movements. Before long, the night of the accursed festival had arrived. A white plumed arrow heralded the coming sacrifice. Piercing the sky, the arrow sunk its shaft squarely into the home of Nami, the village's most beautiful maiden.

Nagi, harboring a secret love for Nami, was enraged by this sign. Determined to put an end to Orochi once and for all, Nagi traveled to the beast's cave in place of his beloved. The Moon Cave, a place as dark as evil itself, served as Orochi's home. As Nagi stood bravely before the entrance... A beast appeared, eyes glowing crimson upon eight thrashing necks. Orochi stood tall before him, anxious for another sacrifice. Nagi leapt with incredible grace, swinging his blade valiantly. On and on he sliced, well into the moonless night, but Orochi's hide was like steel. The blade left nary a scratch. At long last, Nagi, his energy spent from the intense battle, dropped to his knees, fatigued and gasping for breath.

He knew he was staring death in the face. It was then that the wolf appeared. As if to protect Nagi, it stood its ground before Orochi. In the darkness of the cave, the wolf's coat shone brilliantly. Alas, it was Shiranui, the wolf that dwelled outside the village. Baring its fearsome claws, Shiranui leapt toward Orochi. Orochi reared its terrifying heads, readying its fangs for battle. The two beasts struggled wildly, thrashing in the darkness. Mysterious and terrifying, the spectacle continued. Shiranui summoned gusts of divine wind to counter Orochi's flames.

As Orochi closed in on Shiranui, sharpened claws glistening, a gigantic tree suddenly sprouted forth, shielding the wolf. Shiranui fought gallantly to gain the upper hand. However...

Orochi, protected by a mystical power, was not easily bested. Shiranui, covered in gashes, majestic coat dyed crimson, stood exhausted before the mighty Orochi. Orochi saw a chance to strike what would be the final blow. But Shiranui refused to give in. With its last ounce of strength, the majestic wolf gazed heavenward and unleashed a mighty howl.

Suddenly, the black clouds overhead dissipated. The light from above glinted off Nagi's sword as a beacon of hope. Guided by his sword, Nagi, who had been taking shelter in the shadows, stood proudly to face his adversary. Channeling all his strength into his scarred and battered arms, he leapt ferociously toward Orochi, his sword poised high. The golden sword danced in his hands like a puppet on a string. One by one, Orochi's fearsome heads separated from their owner. Orochi's broken body collapsed in a lake of its own blood. In that instant, the curse that plagued the villagers was lifted. As the battle subsided, the sun shone once again in the sky.

Shiranui had succumbed to Orochi's poison and struggled to breathe. Nagi scooped the beast into his arms and returned to Kamiki. When they reached the village, Shiranui was no longer moving. The village elder gently stroked the wolf's head. In response, Shiranui let out a hoarse and pitiful bark... Then closed its eyes and drifted off as if into slumber.

Peace had at last returned to Kamiki Village.

In honor of Shiranui's heroic exploits, the villagers erected a shrine and placed a statue of the wolf within it. Nagi's sword was christened "Tsukuyomi" and placed inside the Moon Cave. The villagers all looked forward to an age of endless peace...

However, this is not the end of the story...

There is more to this tale than most people know. One hundred years had passed since Nagi and Shiranui's heroic exploits. It happened so quickly that no one in the village even took notice."

o O o O o O o

Far off in a dark, distant place near Kamiki Village, a large bell sat hooked onto a wooden post, swaying gently in the breeze. The sky around the area was blood red, and fierce, howling winds whipped throughout the trees, leaves riding the breeze. A purple, foggy haze settled around the area, making the land smell of curse and disease. Beneath the bell was a small patch of dirt, and a lone, blue sword with a yellow crescent-shaped moon near the hilt sat stuck in the dirt. A few rocks made a ring around the aged sword, and the two strings that hung off of it flapped in the breeze.

A lone and shadowed figure -- a figure in the shape of a man -- approached the sword with heavy steps, his feet dragging against the ground and his breathing heavy. "Is this the legendary sword?" he asked rhetorically, his voice tipped with disbelief as he scanned up and down the sword with envious eyes. "Is this Tsukuyomi, the sword that banished the dreaded Orochi?" he added, taking a step closer to Tsukuyomi. "No... it couldn't be," he murmured, putting both hands on the sword. "It's just a legend. Nothing but a fairy tale!"

The shadowed figure grinned evilly and yanked the sword out of its hold in the dirt patch, accidentally bumping the bell on the way out. As he smirked at his prize, his eyes trailed up to see eight pairs of eyes staring at him, sixteen red orbs blinking with crimson hatred. Eight long necks, eight different elemental masks...

The man jumped back and dropped the sword, scared. He nervously looked up at the eight-headed beast before him, and as the sword hit the ground, it made a loud, clear ringing sound. He backed up one more time as purple smoke and fog started to shoot out of the area where the sword hit, and the haze started to swirl around the clearing. The beast, however, stayed put and watched. The bulky man screamed loudly and wheeled around and took off anxiously. He raced down a flight of stone steps behind him and past two large boulders as the violet fog started to shroud the area.

The fog uplifted the bell into the air, making the man trip and fall to the ground. He turned around nervously, and he stared behind him at the beast. Dust and dirt flew from the impact of him hitting the ground, kicking up a few stray pebbles at the same time. As he turned around, one of the heads came up to him, mere inches away from his face and shining red eyes glowing brightly. The man gasped in horror as he realized the fire symbol on top of the dragon's head, and as it flicked out a tongue, he winced.

"O, he who seeks power..." the dragon began in an evil tone. "He who has broken my bonds, speak the words 'I wish darkness unto the world," the dragon added. Utter that prayer unto me, and unleash my power." The man's eyes were livid and bright, flashing with fear and anxiety as he backed up against the ground and stared into the cold, hard eyes of the fire elemental dragon before him, the other seven heads surveying the area.

The man got up and ran away as fast as he could, and the dragon through back its head and let out a long, loud roar that sliced through the air. The man raced down a stone path and quickly ran down a ramp that was surrounded on either side by broken statues. Fire came sprouting up from behind him, and the eight-headed beast soon followed. He was too slow, though. The dragon caught up to him within seconds and got caught up through a large wooden building. Surging forward, the dragon broke free of it and raced throughout the trees in hot pursuit of the man.

The beast let loose another ferocious roar that raced throughout the land, churning up dirt, grass, moss, trees, and boulders in its wake. All the debris came together and swirled around before burning up into a black, burnt crisp. The cursed fire raged through the land, and the blood red sky was soon replaced by heavy, black clouds. The dark clouds joined with the swirling motion and moved over the sun, blocking its glorious rays from touching the ground.

And soon, the land was washed in darkness...

o O o O o O o

"A horrible tragedy suddenly swept over the land. However, there was one village that seemed to escape the curse. The tiny settlement of Kamiki Village enjoyed the protection of a sacred tree." Deep within the heart of Kamiki Village, a long dark gray-blue statue was frozen in place while darkness swept throughout the land, destroying everything in its wake. The statue was of a wolf, and the ends of its elbows had paintbrush-like ends that were darker in comparison to the rest of it, save for the wolf's tail. "It is here that the real story begins."

Gray rocks and old trees circled around the village like a tornado, and the wolf's crouching position seemed to warn it to stay away. A whistling sound followed the wind as boulders cut through the trees like a razor, and following shortly after was a green ball. The ball hit the ground with a tremendous impact, and, in its place, a tall, lean, slender woman stood. She wore a long pink kimono and had long, beautiful, ebony hair. Her cleavage was exposed in the bare air, a few leaves holding up her breasts. "How troublesome," she sighed softly. "This is just like the ancient prophecy of doom. What has transpired to bring about such calamity?" asked the woman, a wood sprite named Sakuya, rhetorically. She turned around to look at the statue of the wolf solemnly. "We must act quickly! There is no time to lose!" she continued as if the wolf could hear her. "My power has diminished over the years I've spent protecting this area. I don't have much time left in this world."

A faint yellow light glowed from around her feet, a sickly green color mixed in it. A purple haze that was connected to her arms and reached out behind her moved with every movement she made, and as she reached up with her arms, she said, "Amaterasu, now is the time." She brought her arms out to the side and flicked a wrist, a large, stone plate appeared, ridges on the side of it sticking out as if it was frozen fire. "We have never needed your power more," Sakuya said softly. "Shine your divine light upon this broken and polluted world." A few white and yellow sparkles came off of the piece of stone -- a weapon of the gods frozen into stone. "Let your heavenly rays become our hope as you guide us all!"

In one fluid motion, Sakuya tossed her arms up into the air, and the divine weapon with it. It stopped in the middle of the air and spun around a few times, sparkles coming off of it. Circling through the air like a shruiken, it made a wide arc around the area and slammed itself onto the back of the statue of the wolf. Immediately, the green stone flames turned bright yellow, red, and orange and came alive. The rock-hard fur of the wolf fluffed out, and vivid red markings revealed themselves. The wolf slowly stood up, hundreds of years of being at rest not doing anything good for her bones. She straightened out her legs and stood up tall and shook her body from side to side, sending a shower of sparkles from off her back.

She whimpered in greeting and blinked her eyes sleepily. Her tails, elbows, and dew claws were longer than normal and ended in what looked to be a paintbrush tipped with black ink, and as the wolf looked around, she started to become more aware of her surroundings. "Ah! Such divine white light! Such beauty and grace!" Sakuya exclaimed happily as the wolf goddess leaped off of the platform and landed a few yards away from the wood sprite. "The only one capable of such a wondrous spectacle is none other than our mother and the origin of all that is, Amaterasu!"

The wolf yawned.

"How delightful to see that the savior whose brave sacrifice sealed away the evil demon so many years ago has not changed one bit." Sitting down, Amaterasu watched Sakuya with a bored expression. "Seeing you emerge after so many years spent as a statue brings happiness to my heart!" Sakuya sniffed once and wiped an eye. Amaterasu yawned loudly and sank to the ground, resting her head between her forelegs tiredly. Sakuya stared at the goddess, sighed, and said, "Amaterasu, gaze above you and take in the condition of the sky." The sky was still a shade of dark red, and boulders, rocks, gravel, trees, and plants all still circled around the land dangerously. "Since your untimely departure from our midst, the world has succumbed to devious and vicious beasts," Sakuya explained.

Sakuya looked down to see Amaterasu already starting to sleep, her head tucked close to her side and the sides of her chest steadily rising and falling. "They have ravaged our fine and bountiful country of Nippon... But never have the circumstances been worse than they are at this very moment. Please use your powers to banish the darkness and punish those who would do us harm." Sakuya opened her mouth to say more, but stopped when a low squeak came from inside her kimono. Opening up the inner layer, she looked down. "...Hm? Eh? What is this? Has something stolen its way into my robe?" Shaking madly, she tried to get it out. Within the next few seconds, she started laughing madly and tossing her head up in the air. Sakuya giggled loudly like a little girl and laughed, shaking. Throwing her upper body up, a small, green, glowing bug-like creature came flying out of her kimono. "Phew!" she sighed and then leaned down to inspect it, and then started to glare. "What on earth? You again?" she said flatly.

The small bug jumped up and started bouncing at least two feet in the air madly, rage seeping off of his mushroom-like head. Amaterasu jumped to her paws in a second and started growling. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Are you nuts!?" he yelled as he bounced up and down. "Boy, for a little thing, you sure make a big fuss!" he yelled at Amaterasu, who was winding her tail in circles and snarling. "I was just tryin' to make the conversation a bit more interesting, that's all." He shrugged.

"Were you napping in my clothes again, bug?" Sakuya growled, glaring at the bug.

"Bug!?" the bug shrieked. "I told you a thousand times not to call me that!" he yelled and starting bouncing even higher, Amaterasu still growling and winding her tail in large circles. "I'm a wandering artist," he declared proudly. "The name's Issun!" he added. "I'll show you just how great I am, and it won't be long till you're bowing before my great brush!" Issun stopped bouncing and whipped out a large scroll. He ran up to Amaterasu and shoved it in her face, causing her to jump with fright. He plastered the scroll across her face and grinned. He had drawn a picture of Sakuya, with only a few minor differences. Taking it back and returning to bouncing, he asked, "Well? Whaddya think? Even cuter than the real thing, no?"

Issun started to bounce around Amaterasu like a flea, and she struggled to keep her eyes set on him. Issun jumped on her shoulder and then landed on the tip of her black nose. Growling, she looked up, raising him up in the air. "What's with you, furball?" he asked, looking in her left eye. "You look kinda down in the dumps." Pausing, he added, "Actually, you look kinda familiar... Got it! You look just like that statue of Shiranui!" he exclaimed happily. With a simple twist of her neck, Amaterasu tossed her head up in the air and swallowed Issun whole.

A sick look overcame her face after two seconds, and she threw her head back and spat out Issun in a mass of wolf saliva. "Whoa! Whaddya think you're doin'!?" Issun yelled, his green glow turning a fiery purple color. "Are you crazy!? A handsome guy like me should never be covered in wolf slobber!" he yelled angrily as he flicked off a few drops of Amaterasu's saliva. "You'll regret messin' with the great Issun!" he declared boldly. Leaping back a foot, Issun whipped out a small sword in a flash of silver and growled, "Don't make me use my prized sword, Denkomaru, against you!" he threatened.

As soon as those words left his mouth, a terrible roar shook the ground Sakuya, Issun, and Amaterasu all stood on. All the debris that swirled in the air started to slow down tremendously, and shakily, Issun asked, "Wh-wh-what's that growling sound?" His color turned back to green. "And why is it so dark, anyway?" he added and hopped on Amaterasu's nose.

"O great god Amaterasu," Sakuya sighed as large pink and white petals surrounded her. "I've used all the power I have to protect Kamiki Village. The village lives on. Their spirits lie encased in my fruit," she explained and brought her hands together. "Cut it free, and the village will be reborn. I trust in you. I know that you will lead us down the right path." Sakuya flicked one wrist out and revealed a large, curved and gnarled brown tree with bare branches and no leaves. "Only your awesome power can restore life to the world." And with that, she disappeared.

Amaterasu was standing up and staring at the naked tree, Issun on the end of her nose. "The tree's returned to normal, huh? That Sakuya girl sure said some weird stuff," he said as he inspected the tree. "The villagers' spirits are being kept inside the fruit..." He looked up to see a large pink, bulging fruit sitting on the end of a branch, beating like a heart. A single green stem connected it to the tree, and the rest hanged down. "That's the fruit." He pointed to it with a small hand. "That girl said that if you cut it down, the village will be restored," he explained. Sighing, he added, "But it's awfully high up there. If you don't use some kind of special power, there's no way you're gonna reach it."

"The darkness is really gettin' to me, too," Issun added, watching a few shiny sparkles float off the fruit and disappear into the darkness. "A lot can happen while you're taking a nap..."

Amaterasu didn't reply with a bark or whimper or growl, but, instead, walked over to the tree. At the base of the tree was a large hole that was a blinding yellow-white color, and she had to squint to not hurt her sensitive blue eyes. "That fruit sure is growin' in a high place," Issun remarked. "The only way we're gonna reach that is with some kind of special power."

Wheeling around, the wolf goddess turned and raced off into the blinding light. She and Issun had to sit through a few seconds worth of bright lights, and they had to close their eyes to make sure they wouldn't blind themselves. They emerged on the other side of the tree to find a large, beautiful, stunning bright green meadow. "Where are we?" Issun asked, looking around the clearing.

This place was clean and the sky was ebony black, and stunning white stars dotted the sky. A crescent moon hung high in the air, overlooking the place. Small flowers and weeds grew with careless abandon on the sides of the place, and a few jars and statues were scattered about. The pitch black sky was cloudless, and only the stars and the moon shared it. Issun and Amaterasu both stood on a floating island-like piece of land that hovered above a vast expanse of endless blue waters. A red wooden bridge connected the island they were standing on to the next, and a ledge was at the end of it. "It got awfully quiet all of a sudden," he remarked, the only thing that they could hear being the stars twinkling in the sky. "I don't remember any place like this in the village."

Amaterasu surveyed the area quietly, the weapon on her back spinning around in circles but not touching her back once. The flame coursed harmlessly through her fur, not injuring or burning her in the slightest. "Well, we better keep our eyes peeled," he said firmly. "Boy, you really look so helpless. You sure you're gonna be okay?" he asked teasingly, pulling a few strands of shining white fur.

Amaterasu ran forward with long, elegant strides and stopped at the wooden bridge. She waited for Issun to let go of her fur and then ran across it. The other side held another island, except in front of them, there was a large dirt cliff with grass and weeds growing at the top of it. Two lit torches stood on either side of the opposite end of the bridge, providing light that wasn't needed because of the bright moon and stars. Running to the right of the ledge, she went onward. The ledge in front of her was too tall for her to jump in one leap, so she stood back.

She jumped onto the ledge wall once and sank her claws into it and did a frontflip to land on the top of it. She landed on her four paws gracefully, a few crimson and violet flowers appearing and disappearing as she landed. The new piece of land had a small peninsula-like ledge that stuck out to her left, an empty river straight in front of her, and a large slope to her right. A small red-brown fence was at the end of the ledge to her left and at the very top of the slope to her right. In front of her, a large statue stood next to the water-less river. But... there was a problem.

Another bridge, like the one at the entrance, connected the island she was on to the island with the slope and the river, only it was broken in the middle. She stopped in front of it and carefully walked out on it, looking down at the very, very long fall she would have to make if she fell down. "Looks like the bridge is out," Issun commented, peering over her ears to see the bridge. "This shouldn't be so hard, um, Amaterasu, was it?" he asked, turning his head to the side and looking at the goddess. "That's kinda long," he remarked lowly. "Mind if I call ya 'Ammy'?" he asked, but didn't give her a choice. "Listen, Ammy, ever heard of the spirits of the brush? Good brushwork has its own soul, 'least that's what they say," he explained. "Just watch. It'd take all day to explain." He cracked his knuckles.

"A picture's worth a thousand words, right?" he said casually. Jumping in front of Ammy, he whipped out a small brush and dipped it in black ink. Setting it down against his scroll, he weaved it back and forth, and the same ink appeared over the bridge. He zigzagged from left to right and back to left until the bridge was completely covered in black ink. Picking up the brush, he stood back with a smug expression. The ink disappeared completely, leaving behind a fixed bridge in its wake. "Nice, huh?" he said with his arms crossed and leaped back between Ammy's ears. "Just a little technique I've mastered called 'Rejuvenation.' It's one of many brush techniques that use divine power. It's a brush god power that can restore broken or missing things. I've practiced really hard just to master this one technique." He sighed hopelessly.

"But there are thirteen!" he exclaimed. "Each one is a power of one of the thirteen brush gods," he explained. "Originally, all thirteen were all a single, powerful deity. When the deity died, its power was split into thirteen gods. The gods now dwell within objects all around us, but... god or no god, how could anyone have the power to master all thirteen!?" Without indicating that she cared, Ammy ran across the bridge to the other side. The other side had the steep slope the goddess' right, and a waterless river straight ahead, with a sign next to it.

She turned right to go up the slope, but Issun pulled on her ears to get her to stop and read the sign, which said 'River of the Heavens.' "River of the heavens? They mean the fabled Stardust River?" he asked rhetorically to himself. "But I sure don't see anything like that around here. It couldn't be that little puddle over there, could it?" he asked, pointing to the small pool of water behind Ammy. She stared out across the no-water river and locked her gaze onto another opening on the othe side, a bright light coming from it.

Between the island they stood on and the island where the Stardust River was supposed to be, there was only an empty blue space of air with a foggy white haze floating between it. The shining white goddess wheeled around and raced up the slope, a trail of sparkles and flowers dogging her pawsteps. She stopped at the top of the hill and looked up. The two were close to the sky, as if they could reach out and grab a star. "Wow! Look at the stars twinkle!" Issun gasped loudly. "I haven't seen such a beautiful nighttime sky in ages." As he said that, four stars, brighter than any other star in the sky, glowed radiantly. "Hey, look!" Issun called out and pointed to the four stars. "Are those stars forming a pattern, or is it just me?" He squinted his eyes to look closer, and said, "Hmm... there's one missing."

The four bright stars were all in a zigzagged line going horizontal, but all the way to the far left, one star was missing. "Guess I'll just have to draw the missing star," Issun said casually and shrugged. He pulled out his scroll that he had used earlier and put a single dot in the far left corner. A big dot appeared at the end of the constellation, but with a loud bang, it disappeared. "Bah..." he growled, setting down his paintbrush irritably. "Looks like I'm just not ready to draw missing stars." He muttered a few curses under his breath and plopped down between Ammy's ears.

"I sure spent a heck of a lotta time practicing that," he mumbled irritably. While Issun was looking the other way, Ammy stepped up, raised up her tail, and filled in the missing dot. The star stayed still briefly for a few moments, and it, along with the other four stars, shined as bright as ever. Her ice colored eyes widened happily, as if she knew what was to come. A brief outline of a dragon was shown along the stars, and in the next moment, a bright flash of numerous colors zipped across the sky. All the stars around the five constellation stars all turned multiple colors: indigo, purple, blue, violet, red, green... almost any color imaginable.

Ammy leaped back a few feet as a large, long white dragon broke out of the constellation and did numerous loops and somersaults through the cool night air. With his hindlegs, the dragon carried a large brown scroll gripped tightly in his talons, and as he spiraled around once more, Ammy and Issun soon found themselves standing in a new realm. The sky in the new place was a bright orange-yellow color, and the outlines of mountains and trees were off in the distance. The dragon made one last spiral and came sit in front of the wolf goddess with a placid expression. Ammy sat down neatly, her paws even with her hindlegs and Issun bouncing on her nose.

"Ah, why if it isn't mother Amaterasu," the dragon, Yomigami, said in a deep throaty voice as he floated in the air with his scroll. "I apologize for not contacting you sooner during these long years," he apologized. "Having never forgotten you, I, Yomigami, god of restoration, have eagerly awaited this day when we could meet again." As he floated in the air, in his two forearms, he held multiple spheres with different colors mixed in them. "While you were away, the thirteen spirits of the brush that you once possessed, including myself, have been scattered across this land of men, and now lie in disarray," he explained calmly. "I became a constellation and managed to survive until now." The darker flecks of gray that dotted his neck stood out brilliantly in the orange light, and his twisted brown horns moved with his head. "The time has come for you to seek out and reunite all the techniques. Your power is what is needed to restore the dried riverbed of the heavens and renew the stardust."

Yomigami backed up his head and made a pale yellow-brown circle. The rings of the circle all moved into one glowing and color-changing sphere, and Yomigami disappeared in a bright flash. The sphere had a Japanese symbol on it -- the sign of restoration. It moved in a circle around the clearing and circled around Ammy's head for a few seconds before dissolving into the white fur on her chest. Soon enough, the clearing faded away, and Issun and Ammy found themselves standing back at the top of the slope.

Issun was on the ground bouncing up and down with excitement. "Wow! That was Yomigami, the god of rejuvenation!" he exclaimed happily. He stopped jumping within the next few seconds, a flat look starting to etch across his tiny face. "Wait... so you have the power of rejuvenation now!?" he yelled. Turning around to look at the empty river, he asked, "Can you really use it to restore the River of the Heavens? That would mean you were as good with a brush as yours truly!" he boasted jealously. He shook his head. "Nah, it couldn't be true. Who else could master this incredible god technique?"

Ammy raced down the slope gracefully, leaving large pawprints in the dew. She skidded to a halt beside the sign from earlier, and Issun tugged on her ears to get her to stop. "Wonder if drawing some stardust would get the river flowing again?" he asked. He shook his head slowly. "Nah... it's one thing to fix a bridge, but fixing a starry river? There's no way you could pull off a stunt like that!" he exclaimed.

Ammy ran to the water's edge an leaped in, swimming around in a complete circle before getting back on land. Shaking ice cold water out of her stunning white fur, she raised her ink-tipped tail and smeared the entire empty gap between the two islands with divine black ink. Lifting her tail from the spot, she stood back. The ebony-colored ink "exploded" and the River of the Heavens lay before her, stardust dancing off of the surface of the water. Small ripples formed where she place one ivory paw in the water, and a slight chill raced up her leg.

"Whoa!" Issun exclaimed, wiping his eyes in disbelief at the river that had returned. "A river of stardust! So... this really must be the River of the Heavens," he added, wiping his eyes again. "But what I really want to know is who drew the darn thing!" Ammy leaped into the cool water with her front legs close to her chest, and as she broke the water's surface, Issun let out a shrill squeak. She paddled across the river leisurely, swimming in small circles and relishing in the feeling that the stardust gave her as it passed below her. As she neared the end of the River of the Heavens, she leaped out of the water gracefully and landed on the fresh green grass.

She shook her stark-white pelt and water flew off her in all directions, sprinkling the grass in a shower of rain. Without pausing, she raced forward towards the light. She ran straight through the blinding light at full speed, and arrived on the other side, much like what had happened earlier.

Ammy and Issun both soon found themselves standing on an old and dusty brown brick trail that wound all the way up a slightly inclined hill. Trees grew on both sides, evenly spaced, and a few large boulders and rocks were scattered about. A crescent moon hung high in the air, casting moonbeams upon the land below it. Lush green grass and leaves grew on the ground and trees, and the distant sound of water trickling by in a river sounded throughout the new land that the wolf and the bug-like creature had found.

The she-wolf ran along the path, gaining speed with every stride. She passed beneath a wooden structure, and from then on up, the incline got suddenly steeper. Tongue lolling out of her mouth happily, she ran further and further. Ammy raced along the path happily, Issun clinging onto her by the fur between her ears tightly, his eyes shut tightly. She slowed down when she came to a small red and brown wooden bridge, walked across it, and took off again. This new path was even curvier, and it abruptly turned right as she passed over the bridge.

Ammy raced beneath another one of the red structures, and there was another steep incline. She jumped along the brown and black bricks happily, and Issun held on tightly, screaming for his life. This trail was steeper than the other two, and two large canyon walls rose up around her, blocking out the moonlight from touching the path. The trees got denser and thicker, and her sharp eyes and acute sense of smell sharpened dramatically to adjust to her new surroundings. The goddess reached the top of the trail and raced past a set of large, wooden spike that made a dungeon-like door... only they were wooden.

Her paws skidded in the dirt as she whipped around to see the wooden "door" close and sink into the ground. She turned back around to see a large statue holding up a sword... except for the fact that the top part of the sword was completely broken off. "Is this..." Issun didn't finish his sentence. Ammy's large blue eyes widened as she stared up, studying the moss that covered a good portion of the statue. A hole in the "ceiling" of the cave exposed the hollow to moonlight and stars, providing some light. Two large pools of water surrounded the statue, and as Ammy and Issun looked behind themselves warily, they noticed the only way out was through the way they had just come...

"Is this the legendary shrine?" Issun gasped, his eyes widening in shock and bewilderment. "We must be in the Cave of Nagi!" he exclaimed. "The legendary hero, Nagi, is enshrined here! He vanquished evil one hundred years ago with the help of the white wolf Shiranui! First the River of the Heavens, now this place... Where the heck are we, furball!?" he asked worriedly, looking around. "Boy, this place is a wreck." His eyes were focused on the broken end of Nagi's sword and all the moss that covered near seventy percent of the statue. "See?" he asked, pointing to the sword. "That sword's in really bad shape. The gods sure didn't do much to protect this place," he snorted.

Ammy stepped further into the clearing, and cold moonlight touched her fur, turning it a blazing silver color and making the fire-red markings on her pelt shine as brightly as the sun. Beams of moonlight could easily be seen shining on any surface it could touch, including the statue of Nagi. Ammy yawned loudly and raised her tail, steadying it as she raised it the statue's sword and drew a straight line upwards. The ink vanished shortly, leaving behind a full sword that was clean.

"That really WAS your brushwork all this time!" Issun exclaimed, punching Ammy's head but not realizing it. She growled in response. "How'd you get so good? Exactly who are you, anyway?" he asked, staring at her. As the sound of sparkles filled the two companion's ears, they both glanced skyward. "Hey, there's another constellation!" Issun announced, pointing to it with a small arm. "This one looks like a..." But he didn't finish his sentence.

Five stars shined brightly, missing one star to the far left. Two stars sat upwards to the left, just barely on top of each other. From the top star slanting down to the right was another star, and slightly straight down from that one was another. The bottom star that was next to the first star branched out to the right, too, but was closer to being level than straight vertical-facing. Ammy put a single dot on the two twin stars left, and within moments, a brief flash of a mouse appeared. Another bright flash came, only this one was blue, and the mouse came to life.

The small white creature with red markings carried a red sheath on its left side, and with a twist of its neck, it drew out a long, blue, metal blade, which expanded as it reached out to the far right. Ammy, the mouse, and Issun faded away into the same realm that they had been with when they encountered Yomigami, except this one was a blazing gold color in the background. "Well, well, well, if it isn't mother Amaterasu..." the mouse said in a squeaky voice. "It's been a long time. But with all these monsters around, the only place I could hide was in this shrine dedicated to ancient heroes. If there is anything I can do to assist you in your endeavors, I'm at your service."

Ammy sat down, looking up at the mouse -- Tachigami -- intently. The mouse stood on its blade, balancing on the end of the hilt. "Make good use of this sword, as it was designed to conquer evil." Tachigami disappeared in the same orb as Yomigami did, and he circled around Ammy's head before disappearing and dissolving into her fur.

As they faded back into the Cave of Nagi, Issun said, "Hey, that was the god, Tachigami, master of the power slash technique," he explained. "Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "If you're gettin' all these powers, then you're just like that Shiranui! You know, the wolf who fought and died alongside Nagi? When Shiranui died, the wolf's power was split into thirteen brush gods. This is crazy! Shiranui and Nagi...? It's just like the legend!" He paused. "Well, anyway, I've never seen this power slash technique myself. How 'bout showin' off your stuff on that boulder over there?" Issun pointed to a large gray boulder that sat in a dark corner.

"Lemme see you slice it in half by drawing a straight line!" he exclaimed happily. "I won't believe it till I see it!" Ammy raised her tail once again and drew a straight horizontal line across the boulder, and it sliced in half in two pieces. "Wow! I didn't think you had it in ya, furball!" he said happily, bouncing up and down on Ammy's head. "I'm not even in the same league as you! Guess I really overestimated myself," he said with a casual shrug. "Hey, furball, er... I mean, Amaterasu... I've made up my mind!" He paused. "If you're Shiranui reborn, that means you can master all thirteen techniques, right?" he asked uneasily.

"In that case--" He stopped and scratched her head. "--I think I'll tag along until I'm as good as you! Lucky you!" Ammy knew she was anything but lucky.

Ammy whined pathetically and shook her whole body, trying to fling off Issun. "Heh heh..." he laughed. "It's no use tryin' to change my mind. There's no stoppin' me once I've made a decision! But enough about me. Now that you've mastered power slash, you can cut down that thing Sakuya was talking about!" he reminded, referring to peach-like fruit that was hanging off of the tree. "Let's go back and give it a shot!" he proclaimed loudly.

The wolf turned around, leaving the statue of Nagi behind her. She raced forward happily, making a wide arc around the cave. However, she stopped once she was completely turned around. The same dungeon-like gate was still heavily implanted firmly in the ground, and it was evident that she -- or Issun -- wouldn't be able to get it out. Readying her tail, she gave it a good slash from left to right, and the gate fell in two pieces. She raced past the gate, as if it would rebuild itself soon. She passed up the red structure and ran down the stone path. As she set foot on level ground again, she immediately skidded to a halt.

A bright ring of red surrounded her in a medium-sized circle, odd symbols circling her in the wall. She and Issun both looked around warily, waiting. "What the!? Where'd they come from!?" he exclaimed angrily as two green imps wearing masks jumped out of nowhere. Both imps carried a brown bamboo flute, and their masks were painted with random red symbols. "Ah, well. Draw first, ask questions later, right?" he added as Ammy dropped low to the ground and started snarling ferociously. "You know that divine instrument on your back?" He pointed to the large green disc object that circled around her on her back, red flames surrounding it. "Well, swing it at them to attack!" he instructed, even though the goddess already knew what to do.

She swung out at the imp to her right, knocking it all the way into the wall. The imp to her left slashed out at her with razor-sharp claw-like nails, ripping out a few pieces of fur. "Look, Ammy! Once you've caught 'em off guard and turned 'em black and white, they're easy prey for your brush, no matter how nasty they are," he explained. "Grab your brush and give 'em a power slash!" he instructed.

Ammy slashed both of the green imps at once, killing the one to her right and knocking back the one to her left. She swung out her divine weapon three times, and the imp turned black and white. She drew another straight line across it, and it, too, was cut in half. The red ring around her dissipated in a large puff of red, and she stopped, looking around to see if anymore would come at her. After realizing that no more imps were coming, she wheeled off on her heels and took off down the trail, her claws clicking against the hard stone. She raced through another structure and another ring formed around her, and two more green imps popped out of air, their flutes ready in their gloved hands.

She quickly finished both imps off by twisting and turning around quicker than what they could. As soon as the ring disappeared, she raced off to the golden light and sped straight through it. The light flashed once, and Issun and Ammy found themselves standing back at the River of the Heavens. The river of stardust that stretched out before them was steadily dissolving, and Ammy, without wasting any more time, raced straight ahead and plummeted herself into the water. Stardust tickled her belly and chin, and Issun tried to avoid small droplets of water that came at him, squeaking with every drop that nearly hit him.

Ammy leaped on the land on the other side of the river and took off again, running across the bridge and jumping off of the cliff gracefully. Passing up an origin mirror along the way, she exited the black abyss that she and Issun had spent the last few hours in.

When they emerged on the other side of the gate, the sky was still a deathly blood red color, objects still circled around them, the dirt and grass were still brown and sickly-looking, and the fruit, the only source of a bright color, still hung on the branch, pulsing. Ammy drew a straight line across the middle of the fruit, and with a loud _shink _sound, the fruit fell off of the tree. The fruit hit the ground with a loud thud, and instantly, flowers sprung up all around it. Roses, violets, daffodils, tulips, lilies, daisies... all kinds of flowers.

Light pink petals raced down every path in what was called Kamiki Village, making a trail of green grass as it went, and bringing life back to dead trees. Water started to flow back down a narrow river in the village and turned a sweet azure blue color. Each house returned to its normal color, however, one thing remained unchanged: the sky. The sky stayed pitch black, making the whole village look green. Ammy and Issun had trotted down a path that hugged the cliff to their left and stood a few yards away from another one of the red structures. Ammy stood next to it, gazing around. "Wow!" Issun exclaimed. "The village's been restored! Sakuya came through bigtime! She really was protecting the village! But I sure wish I coulda spent more time in her kimono, if ya know what I mean!" Issun grinned happily and started bouncing up and down on Ammy's nose again.

Issun laughed for a few seconds, and then said, "But seriously, with all the monsters runnin' around and all, the village could still be in danger. Let's go see how they're all doing down there!" he ordered, jumping back between Ammy's furry white ears. The wolf let a flat look cross her face, irritable-ness evident. Ammy raced down a long, curved slope that had a few trees scattered along the side. The only sound around for miles was the sound of her paws drumming against the ground and the flowers that sprung up everytime she took a stride. Skidding to a halt when she came upon a circular clearing with two paths, one to the right and one to the left, she and Issun both looked forward.

A statue of a man was frozen solid in stone, and he wore a mask and held a flute-like object in his hands. "What in the world?" Issun said, leaning closer to get a better look at the statue. Two small red tables were either side of the statue, with an umbrella on the end. "I don't remember there being a statue here..." he trailed off. "Well, whatever. Let's go talk to the villagers!" he declared and sat back.

Ammy took the path on the right, which led to the village. Skinny black, pointed trees were along a wall-like mini-ledge on her right, and a huge ledge to her left blocked out any moon that could have been out. This path, too, was curved, although it curved to left. A large body of water was out to Ammy's left with a small island floating in the midst of it. Picking up more speed, she zipped down the path with tremendous speed. Ammy entered Kamiki Village and slowed down, kicking up a small cloud of dust behind her.

The village was small; very, very small. Upon entering, a turnip farm was to her left, and two houses were to her right. An old waterwheel windmill was beyond the second house to her right and sat nestled halfway into the river. A small pond of rice plants was nestled between the windmill and the second house, and beyond it to the right was another large spring of water with a waterfall directly above it. The village itself was surrounded by canyons and ledges on any side that didn't have water, as if the cliffs would protect the village from monsters.

Beyond the turnip farm was a small open area with a few trees, and across the river was another house to the far left. A wooden red bridge connected both pieces of land together, and, at the very end of the village were three larger boulders blocking the exit. Ammy walked up to rather fat statue that stood admist the turnips in the turnip field and looked closer. "Hey, there's a statue here, too..." Issun said. "It's like the villagers have turned to stone or something..." he muttered. After he said that, another loud roar, like the previous one, shook the whole village madly. Ammy jumped slightly, surprised. "Not again! That's not one of those smaller monsters that're lurking about. A roar like that's gotta belong to somethin' much bigger." He shivered. "Let's hurry up and find someone with a pulse around here."

Ammy looked up to see a statue of a small boy and walked over to it. Sniffing it curiously, Issun inspected it. "No good. This one's not movin'. Everyone here was perfectly fine just a few hours ago! There's definitely something strange goin' on around here. The village is back, but what's up with this dark sky?" he asked, looking at the onyx sky. "Maybe it's dark outside the village, too? Let's find some high ground so we can take a look!" he said loudly.

Ammy turned around and ran back up the path they had came from, and she soon found herself in the clearing again. "There's definitely something strange going on. Let's find some high ground so we can take a look!" Ammy, this time, took the path to the left of the statue and went up. The path hugged to the right, curved like the previous ones. As she passed up the two walls on either side of her, she found herself standing thousands of feet above the water.

A tiny wooden fence traced the edge of the cliff they stood on, but that was it. A few unlit lanterns were scattered between the fence. Ammy continued to run along and came to a slighter larger opening with a large hole in the middle of it, which looked like a dried up pond. Veering sharply to the right, she found a large platform that stuck out over the water below. It had a narrow walkway, but opened up to a medium-sized square wooden platform. She walked out onto it casually, surveying the area below her. As she stepped out into the middle of it, Issun muttered, "This is bad..." He pointed up at the sky. "The sun's not even shining. It's as black as night as far as the eye can see. And not a single villager can move a muscle. Is it some kind of curse? Did a monster do this? It's not gonna stay like this forever, is it? If only the sun were out to light our way..." he sighed.

"If you could draw a circle in the sky, we'd have ourselves a sun!" he exclaimed. "But... I guess that'd be impossibe, even for a god like you." He shrugged casually and leaned back against a furry white ear. "Maybe we better seek out another brush god for help. Of course, if you had that kind of power from the start, that'd be a different story..." he mumbled. Ammy growled under her breath and raised up her tail -- her Celestial brush -- and drew a large, round circle in the sky.

As she took it away, a ring of red and orange surrounded her circle and formed a large bright sun. Golden-red rays shined brightly and touched every available surface near Kamiki Village. "Wh-wh-what the!?" Issun stared at the newly-formed sun n disbelief. "Hmm... come to think of it, your name _is _Amaterasu. That's the name of the sun god! So it'd follow that you had the sunrise technique from the start! With it, you could even turn night into day," he explained. "Wow! You're no run-of-the-mill god, that's for sure! _The flowing brush is like music from the heavens..._ That's a line from one of my grandfather's poems. He felt a skilled artist was like a musician of shape and color. Since you're such a great artist yourself, why don't we name your brushwork after that poem of his? It's called Celestial Brush! After all, your brush did bring out the sun!"

"Well, Ammy, let's get back to the village!" he declared. "We gotta see if the villagers are back to normal now." As Ammy started to turn around, an old man wearing blue clothes and bent over walked over to Ammy, resting heavily on a cane.

"Hm? Who are you?" he croaked in a raspy voice. However, the most peculiar thing about him was the orange he bounced on top of his head. "A white wolf?" asked Mr. Orange. "Not the one who fought that terrible creature with Nagi!? You couldn't possibly be the legendary Shiranui!" he exclaimed. "No, it can't be..." Ammy stared at him blankly. "That story is one hundred years old." After he said that, Ammy sat down on her hindlegs with a bored expression. "Still, you look a lot like that statue of Shiranui." Ammy yawned. "On the other hand, you don't look quite as smart..."

Ammy dropped low to the ground immediately and starting winding her tail again and growling at Mr. Orange angrily. "Wh-wh-whoa! No need to growl like that!" he said fearfully, placing his hands and cane in front of him. "Can you really understand what I'm saying?" he asked. "Well, I'm not one to mince words. I just state facts." Moving his hands back and forth in a punching motion, the sky darkened a gray color. Ammy looked up to the mountains in the distance, her blue eyes narrowing down.

Three green imps with flutes across their backs were sitting on a far-off mountain, watching Mr. Orange. The three imps all leaped off of the mountain together and started to plummet down the cliff for Ammy and Mr. Orange. "Hm? What's this sudden chill down my spine?" Mr. Orange asked uneasily, scratching his bald head.

"Here they come, furball," Issun said as Ammy returned to her offensive position, poised to strike. "Those are the monsters that've been plaguing these lands. They sneak into villages and cause all sorts of trouble!" Issun leaped on the end of Ammy's nose and said, "Step aside, furball! This is a job for my trusty sword, Denkomaru!" Before Issun could do anything, the three imps leaped down at Mr. Orange. Ammy tossed Issun off of her nose and flipped in the air and grabbed Mr. Orange by his clothing.

Throwing him out of harms way, she spun around back on the platform and whipped around. Another ring of red formed around her and the three imps within a few seconds, and Ammy turned around to face the imps. Two imps struck out at her with their flutes, but she easily dodged it by flipping in the air and bringing her weapon crashing down against them. One imp was cleaved in half and with a quick stroke of her tail, it was sliced in two. The other two imps jumped in the air and came swinging down at her with sharp claws. One slashed her on her left side, and she twisted her body around and snapped its neck with her powerful jaws.

Divine Retribution swung out and hit it twice, and the imp soon turned black and white. She gave it a quick slash with her Celestial Brush and whipped around to face the other imp. The other monster was dancing in front of her, taunting her by sticking out its tongue and doing other things. Angrily, she rushed up to it and slashed it with a quick stroke of her brush. The battle ring soon disappeared, and the once-empty and dried up pond slowly filled with clear blue water.

Plant life sprung up around it, lush flowers starting to take root in the ground. Ammy paused where she was standing and looked around, making sure no more imps were headed her way. "Wow!" Issun exclaimed. "You get really aggressive when you're mad, don't ya? Hey, you got yourself some praise! And look! See how that dried up spring began flowing again?" he asked, pointing to the mini-pond. "That's because ridding an area of monsters restores the gods' power to the land. People call it Divine Intervention. The more you restore the land to its natural beauty, the more praise you'll get. It's the source of your natural power," he explained.

"Few people believe in gods these days, and that may weaken you, but if you try real hard, your true power might just shine through!" Issun started to bounce again. "But boy, there's sure been a lotta monsters around lately. And that Mr. Orange you tossed around up on the sacred deck... Looks like he thinks you're a regular wolf! Seems the gods have grown so weak people can't see them anymore." Issun started to grumble a few words angrily. "Oh, uh, anyway, I'll show you around the village. I have a feeling we're in for an epic adventure! This should be fun, furball!" he exclaimed.

Ammy's ears perked up when she spotted a chest in front of her. Racing forward and headbutting it, a bag of seeds popped out. "Why, you little devil! Look at this sweet grub you found! Hey, wait... this is animal food! Still, we could save it to give to animals. Let's use it when we try to approach animals later. Something good might come out of using it the right way!" he explained happily. "I know gods aren't supposed to use creatures in this manner, but what the heck! Let's make an exception this time." Issun grinned.

* * *

**Now THAT took a few hours to type. (We're talkin' about twelve, people. Mainly because I had to keep switching back and forth between the game, pausing it, here, playing, pausing it, going check something on youtube, etc.) I ended this chapter here because this is basically the whole tutorial part. For those of you who haven't finished the game and are stuck, this can serve as a walkthrough of some sort.**

**Oh, and you'll also noticed I skipped all the parts where Issun explained all the controls. I did that for two reasons: 1.) The controls for the PS2 and Wii version are different, and 2.) I don't think you would walk up to somebody in real life and say 'You can press X to interact with people and 'start' to pause life.' That would be weird.**

**Dunno when I'll get around to chapter two. Oh, expect 'em all to be at least this long. This took an hour and forty minutes to proofread. -headdesk- Mainly because I kept getting up to go do other things, but... who cares.**

**-Tainted Lullaby**

**September 13th, 2008**

**Edit date: December 29th, 2008**


	2. Descendant of Nagi I

**Oh, and so you'll know where we left, I'll put a little recap thing at the beginning, okay? (Told you I don't leave things hanging. XD) This will be finished…someday. I'm focusing all my attention on my other Okami fic, then Blood Song, and then I'll work on this. Please note that the symbol/letter at the end of the chapter title is a Roman numeral; I'll be using those instead of typing 'part one' and whatnot. (I believe in making things look neat, hence my often profile revamps.)**

**Enjoy.**

**Golden Rays**

**Chapter One: Descendant of Nagi I**

Ammy's ears perked up when she spotted a chest in front of her. Racing forward and headbutting it, a bag of seeds popped out. "Why, you little devil! Look at this sweet grub you found! Hey, wait... this is animal food! Still, we could save it to give to animals. Let's use it when we try to approach animals later. Something good might come out of using it the right way!" he explained happily. "I know gods aren't supposed to use creatures in this manner, but what the heck! Let's make an exception this time." Issun grinned.

Ammy turned around to face the Sacred Deck, and with a short burst of speed, she ran and jumped off of the side of it. She landed on the ground on all four paws and found herself standing next to Mr. Orange, who was laying on the ground and moaning loudly. "Ah…" he groaned, his face in the dirt and the rest of his body up in the air. "Great Shiranui... Oh no..." he moaned even louder. Ammy rolled her eyes and turned around to see the statue of the man with the flute now alive and playing a nameless tune.

She padded up cautiously to the man and looked at him. Recoiling in surprise, the man jumped. "Ah... I feel it; I sense it. Foul beasts dwell within this place! Concentrate. Look hard. You see, right behind you now..." he murmured lowly. As he said that, another red ring formed around Ammy, and three green imps popped out. Growling, Ammy whipped around to face them. She leaped at one imp and swung out at him with her weapon and slashed at him with her fangs. The imps behind her both lunged at her with outstretched arms and hit her across the flank.

She spun around on one of her hindlegs angrily and cleaved both of them in two with a single swing of her weapon. The imp behind her was lying in the dirt, partially consumed by the dust. Drawing a straight line across it, it was easily dispatched and fell in two pieces. The ring quickly disappeared, and Ammy walked back up to the flute-player, who was named Komuso. "Humans are not witness to such battles, but I saw it! The fighting went on for exactly seven seconds! Hmm... you fight well," he said lowly, dropping his arms to his side. "I have chosen the path of Buddha, but in you I sense another power, and I see the path you have chosen is also the path of truth." Komuso raised his instrument back up and went back to playing, the harmonious melody filling the clearing.

Ammy made a wide arc to turn around and went back down the trail that led to the village. She passed through the large red wooden structure and skidded to a short halt next to a woman in the middle of the turnip field. A few tawny brown-feathered sparrows took flight as the goddess stopped, wagging her tail. "I've had just about enough of this!" the woman yelled angrily, a bucket full of water on her head swaying with her movements. "I don't know if it's stray dogs or monsters or what, but some keeps messin' up my crops! Going around diggin' holes…it makes me mad!" she added, fuming and clenching her fists. "If I catch you diggin' around here, you'll get a good thumpin'!"

Ammy rolled her eyes and locked her eyes onto a small boy running around a few yards away from the turnip farm, a small brown striped dog barking and nipping at his heels. He held on tightly to a small string with a dragonfly tied to it, smiling and teasing his dog. "Hm? A white wolf? Now that's just plain weird," he muttered, eyeing Ammy curiously. "Sure looks like a weak little bugger…" Ammy's facial expression turned flat. "Think you could beat my dog, Hayabusa? Well, listen to this…"

Ammy looked to her left to see a medium-sized brown dog sitting on its haunches with a bored expression. The dog had dark brown eyes and wore a bandana-like cloth around its neck. Aside from having a brown pelt, it also had darker stripes criss-crossing its back. "…there's this field my momma tends to, you…" he continued on. "Well, Hayabusa managed to dig up nine turnips in a row!" Happily, the little boy started bouncing up and down on the ground, raising his arms in the air. Continuing, he stopped jumping and said, "…even though my mama was chasing him around trying to slug him!"

"There are actually ten turnips in that field." The kid—Mushi—allowed his joyous expression to fall to the ground. "Hayabusa is fixin' to get all ten!" Ammy walked away from Mushi as the little kid left, proudly marching along with his dragonfly held high up in the air. Stopping, she turned back around and raced over to him. "Think you can dig up all the turnips in my mama's field?" he asked curiously and crossed his arms. "Don't forget," he said, "you'll have to avoid being slugged by my mama. I'll admit you're the better canine if you can do it."

"Ack; she's gonna try and slug us?" Issun asked with wide eyes. "Not exactly my idea of a good time, Ammy," he added and sat back down between the white wolf's ears. "At least you have your Celestial Brush and wicked brushstroke!" he called out cheerfully.

Ammy furrowed her brows together and turned around, facing the turnip field and Mushi's mother. She was standing amidst her turnips, watching over them like a watchdog with a feral look spread across her face and the eyes of a hunter surveying the area. Ammy kept her eyes fixated on the woman and gingerly stepped onto the turnip field, watching the Turnip Guardian warily.

As soon as the woman looked away, Ammy quickly darted one way for a turnip.

Her claws sunk into the ground and moved backwards and then she swung them back forward again. The ground tore up all around, dirt and grime flying in all directions and sending a shower of soil in all directions. Her paws left deep gashes of four claw marks in the ground and her tongue lolled out of her mouth happily. As she neared the root of the turnip and pulled it out happily and started to prance away, that's when she heard a shriek.

Mushi's mom let out a long, shrill, strident squeal and started to run at Ammy. Growling, Ammy raised her tail and drew a straight line of ink across her stomach, and with a _shink_, the woman fell back on her rear with a surprised look across her face. Ammy hurriedly raced over to another turnip and started to tear away at the ground, and in no time, was rewarded with another turnip.

Ammy kept scampering around the turnip field nimbly, dodging the punches Mushi's mother would throw at her with ease. Giving the older woman another slash, she quickly darted forward after her eighth turnip. Her claws once again made deep incisions in the ground and struck the root of the turnip. Bending forward, she clamped her fangs around the wide part of the turnip and pulled back on it. As it slid out of the ground with a loud 'wet' sound, Ammy quickly looked behind her. Mushi's mom raised up her fist, balled it up tightly, and brought it crashing down.

The wolf goddess quickly ran between her feet, dropping low to the ground and coming out on the other side. She happily coated the woman in a large clot of ink, leaving the Turnip Guardian confused and covered in black ink. After Ammy had retrieved her ninth turnip, she whipped around to see the tenth one…and it was being heavily guarded by Mushi's mom. The stark white wolf glared down the woman with narrowed blue eyes, her fur sticking up. As the sun beat down upon her back, a small line of sweat rolled down her nose and landed in the dust.

Issun murmured a few words of encouragement in her ear, urging her forward. The wolf raced forward, her speed matching that of the wind. She did a nimble flip over the woman's head, and as Mushi's mom looked up, she was blinded by the golden rays of the sun. Ammy darted between her legs as she made contact with the ground and quickly ripped the turnip out of the ground, not even taking the time to properly dig it up.

Although this turnip was different.

Instead of being a pale white color, this one was a bright red-pink color and had long, floppy, green leaves and had jagged edges and odd pieces of the vegetable stuck out at different angles. Ammy and Issun didn't have long to contemplate it, though. Issun yelled something in her ear as she held up the turnip happily…and that was when she saw Mushi's mom coming after them angrily. Faster than lightning, Ammy darted off the turnip field, leaving the woman in the dust.

Mushi's mother let her arms drop to her sides and walked back to her 'post' in the middle of the field, angrily cursing at Ammy. The white wolf rolled her eyes and pranced over happily to Mushi and dropped the turnip at his feet, her tongue lolling out of her mouth.

"Hey! That's…that's…" Mushi couldn't find the correct words as he stared at the turnip at his feet. Hayabusa, his dog, walked around behind him, barking. "The oddly-shaped turnip Hayabusa and I've been looking for!" he exclaimed. "That means…" He took a large gulp. "…You've broken Hayabusa's record by digging up all ten turnips!" Anger radiated off of Mushi, disbelief and shock mixed in. "Gosh darn it!" he yelled angrily and start jumping up in the air. "…Fine. You're the better canine…" Pausing, he added, "Anyway, it actually feels good to have a new goal to aim for."

Ammy had a wolfish smile across her muzzle and flicked her ears. Turning around, she scanned the area known as Kamiki Village. An old woman washing clothes in the river singing and humming to herself, loud snores coming from a shack across the stream, and a lone woman kneeling down in a rice field next to the watermill. Ammy's ears pricked forward and she ran forward, tail wagging happily back and forth.

Ammy trotted forward and moved in between the woman's hands, looking up into her dark brown eyes. "Well, what a fine looking wolf!" the woman said, petting Ammy between the ears. "What's your name?" she asked. "Mine's Kushi; it's a pleasure to meet you." Standing back, Kushi put her hands on her hips. Her red kimono was stained with green and brown dirt, and the ends of it were dripping with water. The long sleeves that trailed all the way down her arm were folded back, revealing her soaked hands.

"Working in the fields again, are ya?" Issun said, grinning and folding his arms.

"Issun!" Kushi exclaimed and jumped back a little, shocked. "Are you and the wolf together?" she asked, pointing at Ammy. Before Issun could say anything, Kushi pointed to the field they stood in. "This is where I grow the rice for making my sake, you know," she explained with a soft sigh. "…But I have to manage the harvest all on my own. It's hard work." Dropping her arms to her sides, she looked at the wolf dejectedly. "Maybe I should have Susano give me a hand this year…" Kushi started to bend down when she immediately shot up again. "Oh, listen to me blabbering on! I just can't help chatting to you!"

"Why, Ammy, I think you found a friend here!" Issun whispered before Ammy could leave the rice pond. "You'll meet many people who want to talk to you like this. You should talk to them two—or even three—times." Issun paused. "Being a god and all, you can actually tell when to talk. They may just be muttering to themselves, but it pays to listen!"

Kushi bent down to the ground and started to pet Ammy, carefully stroking the top of her head softly. "Susano's a neighbor of mine. He's a little unusual, but…he goes around with a huge sword slung over his shoulder. He's always practicing with it. They say he's a direct descendant of our legendary hero, Nagi." Kushi let out a long, soft sigh and let her arms drop to her sides. "And he loves his sake, too… He often pops around here to buy it." Kushi started to turn around and go back to tending her field when she turned around once more. In a polite tone, she said, "Make sure to say hello when you see Susano. He could use a friend, I should think. He's always on his own." With a warm and welcoming smile, Kushi turned around and bent down.

Issun scratched Ammy's right ear as she turned around and he leaned up against it, sighing softly and inhaling the sweet aroma that hung around Kamiki Village. The smell of light cherry blossom flowers drifted on the breeze and delighted those who smelled it. Ammy shook her head and her body, flinging droplets of water everywhere.

The white goddess surveyed the area like a hawk, her eyes scanning the village for any signs of a person in distress. She looked across the village, and on the other side, bending down towards the river, an old lady with dull gray-white hair washed her clothes, humming and singing to herself. Although the express that was easily forced that shown on her face, Ammy and Issun easily realized the woman was irritated.

Padding up to her slowly and dropping her head down to the ground, Ammy walked up behind the woman and sniffed her. An aroma of cherry and citrus surrounded her, irritating the goddess' senses. Ammy's cold black nose pressed up against her neck, and with a start, the woman jumped around in shock.

Age was evident across her soft and kind face, and the wrinkles that dashed across her body signaled old age. Calming down, the woman raised one hand and softly stroked the wolf. "A white wolf! Now that's a rare sight…" she murmured. "Did you come down from the mountains just to play with us?" she asked, ruffling the fur between her ears. "Well, you'd better be careful, dear. Lately some monsters have been attacking the villagers…" she sighed.

"Do you even know who you're talking to, gramma!?" Issun shrieked and started bouncing again. "This here is Shiranui reborn!" he proclaimed loudly with a proud smile. "The wolf and I have it covered; those monsters are history!"

"Well if it isn't Issun," the woman replied calmly. "And riding a wolf, are we?" The woman's name was Mrs. Orange, and as she slowly stood up from her position next to the river, a small band of sweat trailed down her nose and fell to the ground, landing in the dust. "This one certainly resembles Shiranui… Especially the nose…" Squinting from the bright rays of the sun, Mrs. Orange peered closer at Ammy's face, scrunching up her nose and stifling a short chuckle. "Hmm… Well, I'd better get back to my work…" she grumbled irritably and turned around.

Her water-soaked hands delicately moved the clothes in and out the washboard, cold and icy river water rushing over it in a rocking motion. Sweat coated her neck in a thin layer of clear salty water, staining her violet-colored kimono a darker shade of purple. Ammy pushed her nose into the woman's side to get her attention and wagged her tail.

"Here to listen to the ramblings of an old woman are you?" Mrs. Orange asked, standing up straight and cracking her back. Pointing to the clothes she was washing, she said, "Well, I was doing the laundry…" She walked over a few feet and pointed to two long sticks that stuck out of the ground vertically with forked ends. "—but when it was ready to dry, I noticed my drying pole was gone." She pointed to the empty space between both sticks. "Oh, whatever shall I do?" She turned around started muttering things like 'where did that darn pole go?' and 'how could something important like that just disappear?' and whatnot.

Issun leaned in closer to Ammy's ear and whispered, "Hmm… She's missing something that should be there, is she?" Pointing to the two poles, Issun nudged Ammy with his foot. "You'd better help her out, furball," he suggested.

Ammy stepped off to the side and looked over both poles with a clear eye. With a quick stroke of her Celestial Brush, a fine black line appeared between the two poles and 'exploded' away, revealing a long, polished, brand new bamboo stick. Ammy let out a happy bark directed at Mrs. Orange and pointed to the new pole with her muzzle.

Leaping in shock, she exclaimed, "A new drying pole!? Oh my! Where did that come from?" She looked around anxiously in all directions, her dark brown eyes skipping over the white wolf. "The gods must have answered my prayers! How wonderful!" For a woman her age, Mrs. Orange started to jump up in the air, happiness radiating off of her in golden waves. "Time to dry the laundry!"

Ammy sat back on her haunches and watched as Mrs. Orange walked back and forth, hanging up towels, kimonos, and rags to dry. The white wolf yawned widely, revealing pearly white fangs and exposing them to the sun. Sunlight glittered and danced off her teeth and reflected small dapples of white onto the water's surface, making a few fish scatter. As she watched small kois dart away, she turned to face the older woman beside her.

"Well, I'm glad I was able to hang my laundry, but…" She started to bite her nails nervously. "…The sun seems to be so far away these days," she sighed. "Maybe it doesn't like all those monsters lurking about?" she said as more of a question than a statement and sighed once more. "If only it would shine closer, my laundry would dry in a second…"

Within half a second, Ammy had already drawn a large black circle in the sky. Moments later, the circle filled in with fiery red-orange colors and started to cast warm rays of golden sunlight upon the land. Every leaf, plant, and tree was warmed by it, and with a loud call from a nearby sparrow, Mrs. Orange jumped nearly eight feet in the air. "My word!" she gasped loudly, clutching her chest as if she were about to have a heartattack.

Sunlight poured down from the sky and rested on her hanging clothes, which were gently swaying in the breeze. Ammy's fur glistened brightly in the sunlight, each clear hair on her pelt prickling with happiness and joy. Mrs. Orange stared at her clothes as the warm shafts of sunlight started to dry her clothes, her mouth hanging open as if it had broken hinges.

"The sun has suddenly drawn so close…" she murmured, still in shock. "My laundry will be bone dry in no time! First my pole… and now this? Will the miracles never cease? Maybe I ought to make some cherry cakes to offer to the sun…" Mrs. Orange wiped her brow with a dirty sleeve of her kimono and smiled again. "Come back tonight if you want some, too, Snowball." She let a wistful smile cross her face and added, "No one makes better cherry cakes! They're mouth-watering good!"

Ammy's eyes widened in a delightful fashion as she turned around, her mouth already starting to water from the thought of the cherry-flavored snack. She slowly padded away and bounded away once Mrs. Orange returned to watching her clothes and headed for the mill. Its large wheel was broken at the top and constantly rocked back and forth in the water, kicking up small waves. The shack itself sat on the river's edge, the wheel dipping in the water along with a few support columns.

Boarded-up wooden windows were tightly shut and brown wooden shingles made up the shack's roof. Issun whispered a few words into Ammy's left ear, and nodding in a wolfish fashion, she quickly coated the top part of the water wheel in dark, black, ebony-colored ink. An 'explosion' similar to the one from before happened again, and within no time, the top of the wheel was fixed and starting spinning again in the water on its own.

A shocked and startled gasp came from Kushi, who was bending down in ankle-deep water in her rice field, clutching a few rice plants in her hand tightly. Dropping them, she immediately raced over to the mill and stared up at the now-turning mill with shock and joy plastered across her face. "What's this!?" she exclaimed, her eyes widening and shining brightly. "The mill's been mended! Who on earth did that!? I'd completely given up on the idea of making my sake… But now I can get on with polishing the rice!" she exclaimed happily. "Well, no time like the present! I better get started."

Kushi hummed a few songs in her head and turned around to face the door that led into the mill. Picking up her dirtied kimono as she walked, she picked her way through the field and entered the building through a large brown door. Ammy yawned again and, once again, scanned the area, looking for something that seemed mildly interesting.

Her clear sky-blue azure eyes soon found themselves straying across the river and gazing off towards the exit of Kamiki Village. Issun nudged her beneath her ear, and with a long, graceful, flying leap, she soared across the river and skidded to a halt on the other side, her claws digging into the ground and acting as brakes. She took off at a fast-paced lope as soon as her paws made contact with the ground, her paws making a drumming sound against the ground. On her left was a medium-sized red wooden shack with a sign outside, but instead of stopping, she continued on to the end of the trail.

Two walls of stone rose on either side of her, shielding her from the sun's rays and casting dim shadows on the ground. A few rabbits rested in the shade of the trees, taking quick naps and scampering away when Ammy walked into view. She slowed down to a slow walk and sniffed the breeze. Another human was upwind, and as she walked further along the dirt path, her eyes adjusted to see a heavy-bodied male with a basket of odd items trying to push a boulder.

The boulder was larger than a two-story house and weighed three times as much. A light brown hat rested upon the man's head as he pushed, sweat pouring off his neck and dripping down his chin and nose. "Heave! Heave!" he yelled as he pushed. His grass sandals tore up the ground as he continued to push against the boulder, tearing and uprooting grass in his wake. "This is weird," he panted, "my mind really wants to shift this rock, but my body won't cooperate! It's like I'm made of lead!"

Ammy and Issun both exchanged a confused stare between each other.

"Could this be a case of demonic possession? I sure hope not!" he continued on. Ammy flattened her ears as he rambled on about being possessed. As soon as those final words left the traveler's mouth, another imp materialized out of thin air, coming to the ground in a spiral of dark purple-black wisps.

It wore long dirty yellow clothes and carried a dark green bongo-like instrument across its back. The mask that covered its face concealed fire red eyes and the imp's blazing determination. Ammy quickly raced forward with her weapon and halted yards away from it.

The bongo-wielding imp soon called forth two regular green imps, both armed with their usual flute-like weapons. In a taunting manner, the two smaller imps both smacked their rears and made mocking noises. Ammy, without waiting, immediately raced forward and started lashing out at the three imps with her Divine Retribution. The first imp went down easily and was cleaved in two, but as she whipped around to catch the other, she was hit by the end of another imp's flute.

It struck her in the hip, and with a fierce snarl, she lunged forward at it and snapped at its head closely. The newer imp quickly wheeled around and threw his bongo at her like a boomerang. Jumping up in the air, the bongo lightly grazed the underside of her paws. She quickly drew a fine black stroke across the green imp's stomach, and with another shink, it soon fell in two 'pieces' and made a flowery mess on the ground.

She whipped around angrily to see the other imp. With a short-lived glare, she easily lunged at it and lashed out at it twice with her weapon. It took one blow to its left and another to its right before it fell on the ground in a mess of dirtied clothes. One quick slash across its back quickly sent it back to where it came from, and with a joyous bark, Ammy happily bounced back over to the merchant.

As the imps disappeared, two large trees, a group of multi-colored flowers, and tall grass quickly sprang up, as did more rabbits. A new type of power surged through the goddess' veins as the land before her returned to its natural state.

"Ah…I feel as light as a feather now!" the merchant proclaimed happily and opened up the umbrella he had across his back. "Sadly…" He cast a forlorn look at the boulder. "…that doesn't make it any easier to shift this boulder. Who went and blocked the only path out of here, anyway?" he asked, looking around as if the culprit would be in view. "There's no way I can get back to the city now." The merchant paused for a moment and looked at Ammy and said, "Say, pup, your owner lives here in the village, right? So you must know that guy, Susano. Can you get him to come here?"

Ammy sighed.

"They say he's the descendant of the legendary hero, Nagi," he explained, even though Ammy already knew that. "If anyone can do something about this rock, it's him." With a firm nod and a small shrug, the merchant turned back around and tried to push the boulder some more…and still failed.

"That's strange…" Issun whispered to Ammy. "This boulder wasn't here before," he added and pointed to the large gray boulder that blocked the only exit out of Kamiki Village.

Ammy turned away from the boulder and stared down the path, resting her eyes on the shack she had passed up earlier. She trotted over to the shack and stopped in front of the door. Issun pulled on the white fur on top of her head to get her to halt, making her growl at him in a low tone. "Sheesh…" Issun muttered. "He's always snoring like a bear." Quickly changing the subject, he said, "This is the home of the two-bit middle-aged warrior, Susano."

Ammy pricked her ears forward and easily saw what Issun meant. Susano could be heard deep inside the shack, snoring loudly and sounding like a bear snarling than actually a man sleeping. "He goes around claiming to be a descendant of Nagi. He's famous around here for his lineage, but he's awfully lazy and too off-the-wall to be a descendant of a legendary hero." Issun rolled his eyes.

The white goddess didn't bark or growl or grovel in response but, instead, walked through the door that cut off Susano's house from the rest of Kamiki Village. The first floor—the main floor—of his house had a dirt floor that was speckled with small gray rocks. A small carpeted circular platform was in the middle of his house with two torches perched on either side of it. Stone walls rose on either side of the wolf and were coated in a layer of wood on the outside. On the far right of the house, Ammy noticed a large jug-like cylinder and raced forward.

She headbutted the barrel-like object to find a hidden ladder beneath it. The snoring was amplified as soon as the barrel tumbled away, and with a short cry of joy from Issun, Ammy leaped down the hole to see what lay on the basement level…

o O o O o O o O o O o O o o O o O o O o O o O o O o o O o O o

Ammy hit the bottom floor with a thump and slowly clambered to her paws, her eyes widening to catch all hints of light that managed to poke through Susano's house. The snoring on the basement level of the house was almost too loud for her to stand, though with steady determination, she calmly strode over to the side of Susano's bed.

"I…am…the…greatest…" he murmured in his sleep as he slept on his back.

As the goddess' eyes adjusted to the dim lighting down here, she got a full view of Susano.

He wasn't a very handsome man, and although he had some muscle mass on him, he was slightly overweight and had a large, cherry-red nose that sat between two brown eyes with thick, bushy, black eyebrows on top of them. His hair was messy and black and looked as if he'd dunked himself in melted pig fat and then found a way to smooth back his hair. Despite that, the shirt he wore was too small—or too loose—for Ammy's liking.

It exposed too much of his arms and hairy chest, and Issun had to bury his face in Ammy's fur to stop himself from gagging. His baggy pants were held up by a dark red—almost burgundy—sash that was tied in a tight knot around his waist. His forehead protruded out a little, casting small shadows over his eyes and mouth. His lips were cracked and dry, his ears were bright red, and his face had a pink hue to it.

Ammy pricked her ears forward once more when he started murmuring again, and all she heard was this: "Oh…Kushi…let's…" But he never finished. His body started twitching and moving, and Ammy and Issun guessed that he was dreaming about making out with Kushi. Issun, disgusted, buried his face once more in the goddess' white fur.

"Let's wake this guy up!" Issun exclaimed loudly as he swallowed back down vomit.

Ammy allowed a feral grin cross her face, and with a huge step back, she raced forward and headbutted Susano. He jumped a few inches in the air from the impact and immediately shot up. "What the!?" he exclaimed, looking around wildly. "Huh?" he said and scratched his head curiously.

The supposedly 'great warrior' rose to his feet and stretched out like a cat, yawning widely and fixing his sword—which looked like a wooden sword more than anything else—across his back. "Ah… I feel so well rested!" he said and stretched out once more. "I planned to meditate underground…but fell fast asleep." Susano even had a voice to match his appearance. His voice was deep but portrayed hints of cowardice within it. He furrowed his brows together and peered closer at the wolf and Poncle before him.

The same flat look crossed Ammy's face.

"Huh? Who are you?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "And what business do you have with Susano, the greatest warrior ever?" he asked and crossed his arms proudly and held his head up high. "Do even the beasts know of my great exploits now?" Ammy rolled her eyes and yawned. "Well, Fido—" he said, referring to Ammy. "—I'm not looking for apprentices. Go back to the mountains and play with your monkey friends." Susano quickly dropped back to the ground and laid down. "How dare a mangy mutt like you interrupt my meditation!" he said angrily.

"Get a load of this guy," Issun hissed and crossed his arms. "All brawn and no brains." Stepping towards the end of Ammy's nose, Issun declared, "Quit messin' around and come with us!"

"Hm? You snuck in here _again!?" _Susano yelled and leaped to his feet and peered down closer at Issun. "Quit bugging me you… you… bug!" he growled.

Issun started jumping up and down faster than ever on the tip of Ammy's muzzle angrily. "I told you, _don't call me a bug_!" Still jumping, he added, "C'mon, Ammy; we're taking him with us!"

In a second Ammy had grabbed Susano and had him flung on her back and held him down with Divine Retribution. "What do you think you're doing!?" he yelled angrily and looked around anxiously for a way to get off the goddess' back. "Put me down this instant! What will the neighbors think!?" he cried out.

Beads of sweat started to fly off his head as he struggled around weakly. Ammy, with a devious grin, jumped out of the basement and to the main floor from the hole she had fallen in from. She quickly raced out the front door and into the cold air of the village. Instead of turning back left to go meet up with the merchant, she raced over to the river and leaped in, spraying water everywhere. Susano struggled fervently on her back and let his arms fly up in the air as he screamed at the wolf to let him go.

Flicking her ears back against her skull, Ammy plowed through the water powerfully. Ammy jumped up on the shore next to Mrs. Orange, who looked at Susano and said, "Oh, Susano! That sure looks like fun!" Her tone hid bits of laughter behind it. "—but shouldn't you be practicing your swordplay?"

Ammy turned away from Mrs. Orange and raced over to Mushi and Hayabusa, who were both still romping around in the grass together. "Boy, you're sure weird, Susano," Mushi remarked casually. "Is that supposed to be some kind of new training or what?" Ammy and Issun both grinned wildly as Ammy ran over to Mushi's mother.

"It better not be you messin' up my garden, Susano!" she scolded. "You'll get a good thumpin' if it is!"

After Susano's face turned a bright pink color and his pride was slightly damaged, Ammy let out a laugh-bark and took the red bridge back across the river and headed back off to the boulder that blocked the exit of Kamiki Village.

The merchant craned his neck around and saw Ammy coming after him. As she skidded to a halt, Susano slid off her back and landed on the ground in a mess of purple clothing. The merchant did a short clap with his hands and smiled, his big, red, puffy cheeks poking out.

"You mangy mutt!" Susano chided angrily, shaking his fist in the air threateningly. "You brought me all the way here just to test yourself!?" Resting his hand on the hilt of his 'sword,' he said, "Then prepare to taste the wrath of my trusty blade, Tohenboku!"

"H-Hold on a minute," the merchant interrupted with and opened up his purple umbrella again. "You're the legendary Susano?" he asked curiously.

"Yep!" Susano said cheerily and straightened out, taking his eyes off the white wolf's form. "None other than Susano, the greatest warrior to ever live!" he declared proudly. "And by the way," he said slyly, "never interrupt warriors engaged in battle."

"…But I've got a favor to ask you," the merchant replied. "This huge boulder blocking the path is really getting in my way. Can't you do something about it?" he asked and motioned to the boulder with his umbrella.

"What!?" Susano said, taken aback.

"Come on! Please? I mean, you are Nagi's descendant, are you?" The merchant had a faint glimmer of hope shining in his eyes as he stared at Susano. "Surely one stone is no match for your mighty skills… right?" he added.

"Hm…" Susano pondered for a moment. "It is certainly not beyond my ability…"

"Really?" the merchant replied hopefully and started to crack a small smile. "Great!" He paused. "Okay, then! No time like the present! Go for it!" he cheered.

"Wait!" Susano said immediately. "A boulder of this size is not very easy even for me. This will require my utmost focus to magnify the power of my sword!" Sweat started bouncing off Susano's head again as he looked around nervously. "I shall retire to the training grounds to make preparations. Wait for my return," he explained.

Before the merchant could say anything else, Susano quickly ran off towards the 'training grounds' in the back of his house, kicking up dust and dirt as he ran. Ammy's eyes stayed focused on him as he ran and she opened her mouth to start panting. "Hmm… I wonder…" Issun trailed off, staring at a nearby floating fluffy white cloud that soared across the sky lazily. "I've never seen the guy train seriously…ever."

The merchant closed up his umbrella and went back to surveying the area. Ammy let out a wolfish sigh and turned back around to find where Susano went. The male was lying on the ground in the middle of his 'training ground' stretched out and soaking up the sun's rays. He lay amidst a few scattered scarecrow-like decoys. Ammy rolled her eyes, sighed, and raced back across the red wooden bridge.

She sharply took a left turn and entered the door to the mill. The inside of the mill was very narrow and small with a dirt floor and shelves stacked with numerous items. A few barrels of polished rice were lined up against the wall in an orderly fashion, signaling that Kushi had already gotten down to work. Ammy loped up casually to the maiden at the end of the mill and looked up at her, tongue lolling out of her mouth happily.

Kushi bounced with joy and petted Ammy's head softly. "You're interested in how to brew the sake, are you, Snowy?" she asked, calmly stroking and grasping the fur between her ears. She stood back up straight and said, "Well, this thing here's for polishing the rice, you see. Oh, I'll tell you what!" she exclaimed. "I've got something I think you'll like. Hee hee, it's just some leftover stock from the store, but I made it myself! It's called 'Vista of the Gods'," she explained. "Oh…" She stopped. "But are you even old enough to drink, Snowy?"

Kushi shrugged and turned around and picked up a small jug-like object that was decorated with blue symbols. As Ammy picked it up, she could hear the sloshing sound of the sake inside the jug. The jug was gripped tightly between her teeth, and Ammy quickly exited the mill and ran back across the river. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Susano needed sake to train. (Or so he claimed)

"I know I told that merchant I could help…" he mumbled as he laid down on his side in bright yellow sand. "—but a boulder of that size? I don't care if I'm of a legendary bloodline! It's just too big!" In his left hand, gripped tightly, Susano clutched an empty white bottle of sake and turned it upside down. "Hm? Oh no!" he yelled. "I can't believe I've run out of sake at a time like this!" He tossed the bottle over his shoulder as it went flying into the river. "This won't do one bit…" he grumbled.

He seemed oblivious to Ammy standing right beside him with a new jug of sake.

"That's it for today. I'll just have to train tomorrow…" he sighed and rolled over onto his back, staring up at the sun and squinting. Susano looked behind him when Ammy let out a small bark to catch his attention. "Hm?" He jumped to his feet and stared at what Ammy clutched tightly between her teeth. "Hold it right there, Fido!" he exclaimed and pointed at the 'Vista of the Gods.' "That smell…" he sighed lovingly. "Is that Kushi's famous homebrewed sake?"

Ammy rolled her eyes irritably and dropped the sake jug on the ground at Susano's feet. The dejected look on his face quickly turned to a lustful smile as he picked up the sake jug and clutched it tightly to his chest. "F-F-Fido, my friend, did you bring me some of Kushi's sake? Oh, what a glorious day!" he cheered happily, quickly changing moods. "Ah, good ol' sake! A man without drink is like a warrior without his trusty sword! In fact, it is said that Nagi himself relied on the power of sake in his battle with the dreaded Orochi!"

"It's all so clear now! Let the training begin!" Susano took a quick drink of the sake and turned around and grabbed his sword by the hilt and held it out in front of him. Ammy padded up to his right side and looked up at him. "I'll just try a bit of my usual routine," he said and cracked his knuckles. "Okay, here I come!" he declared.

Susano bent down in a bowing motion and brought his right arm forward and slowly drew it back to the hilt of his sword and let out a roar-like sound. He quickly raced forward and Ammy, eyes widening, quickly drew a single stroke across the dummy that Susano slashed across. Miraculously, the decoy fell in two pieces on the ground and quickly disappeared.

Susano skidded to a halt and quickly turned around to face another decoy to his left. He did the same ready stance and slashed at it, Ammy hurriedly drawing a single brush stroke along the decoy's mid-section. "Feast your eyes on this!" Susano declared loudly and turned back around to face a large, red-gray rock that had sharp and jagged edges. "Susano Style Exploding Implosion!"

Ammy drew a quick black line as Susano struck the boulder with his sword. The boulder was cut in two and skidded into the lake. Susano didn't move but let his mouth hang wide open. "Huh!?" He stared at the split rock with disbelief plastered across his face. "Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed as he quickly raced back to the boulder faster than a jackrabbit, his sword clutched tightly in one hand.

Ammy and Issun quickly skirted off after him to see him ready himself about twenty yards away from the massive boulder. He brought one hand to his sword and fixated his eyes upon the boulder. The merchant quickly dodged to the side, getting out of harm's way. "Susano Style Exploding Implosion!" he yelled at the top of his voice.

Susano charged at the huge boulder with the speed of a raging bull and raised his sword to strike at the rock. Ammy's eyes widened to the size of the moon, and without missing a single beat, she quickly drew a quick slash across the boulder. The boulder soon split in two horizontally and fell to the ground. Susano stopped and let his mouth hang open again, awe plastered across his face and evident in his dark eyes.

"Th-th-that's amazing!" the merchant stuttered, opening his umbrella once again. "You sliced that huge boulder clean in half!" he gasped. Susano, however, was not as enthusiastic. He was scanning over his sword in disbelief, looking it over with a confused look. With his back turned towards the merchant, he narrowed his eyes. "You really are something!" he added.

"Wow!" Issun gasped. "I didn't think ya could do it, pops!" he lied, smirking.

Susano still stood with his back towards the group as he faced the now-revealed opening to a new part of Kamiki Village. "Me either…" he murmured as he held his blade up to the sun and looked it over. "Er, I mean, of course I could!" he stated loudly and crossed his arms again, his usual pride-filled grin coming back to haunt his face. "After all, I am Susano, the greatest warrior ever!" Susano raised his blade higher towards the sun's rays and for a moment, it seemed to radiate in the golden dapples of solar rays.

"You weren't just showing off when you said you were Nagi's descendant!" the merchant said, gaping. "Someone like you'd have no trouble fighting monsters off, huh?" He smiled. "Well, anyway, thanks a lot. Now I can start doing business again." The merchant quietly put away his umbrella and marched over to one of the canyon walls and started setting up his items. Ammy blinked innocently and watched him until she heard Susano start talking again.

"Did you say m-m-monsters?" he stuttered. A small line of sweat fell off his face and landed in the grass. "Oh, uh… Of course; no problem," he added, his tone still uneasy. "This is a job for the most skilled warrior in all of Nippon. Yes! I shall rid these lands of their vile presence. Just sit back and watch the great Susano work his magic!" Susano declared loudly and stepped back in a ready stance, gripping his sword tightly in his right hand.

Ammy sat down and sighed again as Susano took off through the pass, laughing like a madman and kicking up dust and dirt in his wake. "He shouldn't get all puffed up. He's nothing without us," Issun said flatly. "Think he'll be okay? The monsters outside the village are nasty."

Ammy didn't acknowledge Issun with a bark or a growl, but, instead, continued to stay sitting down and staring out into the exit of Kamiki Village. "Ah… Glorious Amaterasu!" said a sweet and loving voice. Pink cherry blossom flowers delicately floated down to the ground in a swirling motion, and within the middle of the swirl was a woman with long, ebony black hair of whom Amaterasu recognize to be Sakuya. "What a pleasure to witness your heroic deeds! I am in awe. When you cleaved the boulder in two, my heart skipped a beat…" she said.

Her long pink kimono exceeded far past her feet as she floated near ten feet in the air, a warm, motherly smile spread across her face. "To see your skills with the brush is to be witness to great art," she sighed.

"Yeah? So do we get a reward or something, lady?" Issun hissed and hopped off of Ammy's nose and onto the ground. He bounced forward all the way up to Sakuya and stared up at her.

"I hardly think your participation had any impact, little bug," Sakuya replied coolly and brought her hands together.

"It's Issun!" he yelled and jumped back on top of Ammy's head for extra height. "Issun, Issun, Issun!" he chanted. "Stop calling me a bug!" His eyes flaring dangerously, he added, "I'll crawl back into your kimono if you say that again!"

"My word!" Sakuya gasped and wrapped her arms around her exposed breasts.

"Aw relax, lady. Furball here's more comfy, anyway," he replied. Ammy growled and turned her head to the side, trying to get a better view of Issun. "Let's get back to that reward thing you were talking about," he said slyly, hopping off Ammy's head once more and bouncing back over to Sakuya. "C'mon, Ammy! Put your paw up or something… Go on, shake!" he cheered. Before he could move again, though, Ammy raised one paw and quickly brought it down upon Issun's head.

"…I must apologize," Sakuya sighed forlornly. "I would like to reward you, but I'm afraid I haven't the power. I can barely muster enough strength to make a flower bloom." After those words left her mouth, Sakuya pointed up towards a barren and dead-looking tree that towered over the three. "Though my body stands firmly here within the confines of the village, my roots spread far and wide, protecting remote areas outside. These parts of me are known as Guardian Saplings. They collect the praise and adoration that gives me strength," she explained.

"The recent evil is eroding the Guardian Saplings…" she sighed. "If this continues, I will wilt away as well, and my power will vanish. Worse yet, the dark power grows stronger with each passing day. Life as we know it will be consumed utterly in no time." Sakuya sighed heavily and gazed down upon Ammy's shining white pelt. The white goddess had taken to lying down on the ground, her head resting heavily upon her paws.

"Aw, man, this is gettin' heavy…" Issun murmured.

"Great and powerful Amaterasu, could I be so bold as to request your assistance in rejuvenating these Guardian Saplings by lifting the curse that enslaves them?" she asked kindly. "I shall mark the locations of nearby saplings on your map." Sakuya let out a tired and weak yawn, dropping her arms to her sides. "I have grown tired… I haven't even the strength to speak now. I hope that my request has not fallen on deaf ears…" she said lowly and hopefully. "Amaterasu… may the fresh scent of flowers protect you always!"

And as Sakuya said that, she quickly disappeared in a rain of white-pink flower petals. As the petals dissipated into thin air as soon as they touched the ground, Ammy lifted her head up lazily.

"Bah…" Issun sighed. "I'm always itchin' for a good fight, but…" He bounced over to Ammy and hopped up on her back and started jumping up and down, trying to get her to stand up. "I sure don't want to poke my nose into this mess… Still, I'm stuck with furball here till I get all the brush skills…" he sighed. "Anyway… Ammy's a god and all… What could possibly go wrong?" he muttered.

Ammy shook her head tiredly and straightened out her legs, climbing to her full height and blinking open sleepy blue eyes. "Hey, did you listen to her, furball?" Issun asked curiously. "You get the rest of the brush techniques to the save the world, and I'll steal and learn 'em!" he cheered happily. "Yeah, that's the ticket. At any rate, let's start by following them marks on the map!"

Ammy glanced behind her to look at Kamiki Village. The merchant was already almost finished setting up his stand and was sorting numerous and different items according to their price, weight, size, and rarity. Issun nudged her beneath the ear once more, and with one final glance around the village, she quickly turned around and walked out into what lay beyond the formerly hidden exit…

o O o O o O o O o O o O o o O o O o O o O o O o O o o O o O o

In times of peril, most people could be found hiding in a corner and moping around, praying for things to get better. But that was not the case in the Shinshu Fields. The people who lived in the massive plains only knew the pain of being slashed by a monster or by having their house set on fire and razed by the playful imps.

But right now they didn't feel anything.

A large field of green with lush flowers and grass grew on the outskirts of Kamiki Village, birds soaring through the air, racing the wind, and rabbits and deer lightly stepping through the tall weeds and munching on whatever type of food they could find. The pass that separated the village from the fields guarded the area, leaving Shinshu Fields in a dome-like bowl. There were very few ways out, and even fewer ways in.

The gurgling of a nearby stream, the crashing of waves against the beach next to the Moon Cave, and the sound of horses whinnying to their friends and wild boars scampering angrily after green imps that had become to bold filled the air.

Of course, all this was natural on a normal day.

But on this day, darkness shrouded the landscape, cloaking everything in a dark mist of black. Churning waves of black clouds hung low to the ground, covering up a good portion of the land. As the white goddess stepped out in Shinshu Fields, she was blasted by the strong aroma of death and decay.

Her eyes, no matter how much they narrowed or widened, couldn't spot the large sapling that grew in the middle of the field, and the ground which was usually covered in lush ground and pretty flowers was now cloaked in a veil of darkness. The ground was turned an ugly gray color, and dead plants and leaves littered the ground. As she looked deep into the black abyss, she noticed that every single piece of land, save for a tiny sliver of visible land, was covered in a thick, black cursed zone.

"Huh?" Issun inquired as he sat upon the goddess' head and surveyed the area. "You probably know this already, Ammy, but… This here is Shinshu Field, the most beautiful field in Nippon." He paused. "At least it's supposed to be… But ever since that incident, I've been getting a bad vibe. We better watch where we're going," he whispered. "Let's pay attention to the map as we push ahead."

Ammy nodded as best as she could and passed through a small wooden, broken fence with gaps between the boards and fully stepped into full view of the field. Issun tugged on her fur to get her to stop, and as she did, he said, "Ammy, that's the first Guardian Sapling marked on our map!" He pointed to another dead-looking tree in the very center of the field with a small outstretched arm. The tree was curled and twisted and was a light brown color and was bare of any leaves.

"It's supposed to be a place for travelers to rest and recuperate, but just look at it! It looks like it could fall over any moment!" he huffed, crossing his arms angrily. "This place is definitely cursed from the looks of it. Places where evil has taken hold, luring monsters from far and wide, are known as cursed zones," he explained, turning his nose up at the acrid smell. "…But I've never seen one this big." He motioned around the area with an arm, pointing out the large expanse of area covered by cursed area. "It's withered all the plant life in the area… even that big tree!"

Ammy looked around.

"It'd take a monster with powers beyond even a god to do this!" he exclaimed. Realization striking him, he added, "That tree's an offshoot of Sakuya. It protects nature in the area. Maybe the natural beauty here would return if we revived it…" He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again, blinking a couple of times before continuing. "But how the heck could we do that, anyway?"

Ammy didn't reply, but, instead, raced as far into the land as she could go before hitting a part of the cursed zone. The ground slowly changed from green, short grass to dead gray land, and as she came over a small bump-like hill, she came down the other side and found a stone statue of a slightly overweight merchant, frozen in place and holding an umbrella. "Another statue?" Issun whispered. "Has everyone here turned to stone?" he added. "They must've been struck by some terrible curse… The only way to help them is to rid this cursed zone of evil."

She turned away from the statue and walked back up on the hill and looked around Shinshu Field. The stream that was normally sky blue and clear was a dark, sludgy purple and had black waves running through it. She wrinkled her sensitive nose in disgust and looked across the river. Aside from an old bridge that connected both pieces of land together, a man wearing faded, torn, old dark yellow clothes chopped away at a piece of wood with an axe, making sure to stay away from the cursed river and land.

She did a speedy lope towards the axmen and halted when she got within five feet of him. The man picked up his axe and dropped it to the ground and wiped his forehead tiredly. "What just happened?" he asked warily, looking the goddess cautiously. "I was out here chopping wood as usual and communing with nature as usual when I heard a loud rumbling like an earthquake from the lake," he explained. "Then a huge gust of wind blew up from out of nowhere. I don't know what happened next, but when I came to, it was like this."

Ammy looked around the axmen's work area and noticed a small shack behind him made of old wood. The smell of food drifted out one of the open windows and into the field, making her mouth water delightedly. "My art workshop was just across the stream there, but it up and vanished when this cursed zone appeared. The earth must be angry. All I want is to live with nature in peace, man!" he exclaimed, clutching his axe tightly between his fists. "But now I can't. I noticed a figure running from the lake to Kamiki. Whoever it was, man, I hope Mother Earth kept them safe…" he sighed.

As the axmen started to go back to chopping and splitting logs, Ammy nuzzled his legs to alert and grab his attention. "What's up, nature buddy?" he greeted as if they were old friends. "Curious about that cave?" he asked and wiped his forehead again. "It's the entrance to a place called Hana Valley…"

Ammy looked behind the man and towards the right a bit to notice a large, dark entrance-like cave, with the tainted river leading out of it. Ammy nodded, although she was unsure if the man had noticed her movement. "…the site of an amazing waterfall," he continued. "But monsters have moved in now. There's a trippy crystal ball in there that makes plants grow enshrined there. You'd think gardeners would be flocking here for it!"

He snorted.

"Actually…" He rubbed his temple soothingly. "…Not that long ago, that Susano guy went marching in there." He muttered a few curses under his breath. "It's weird. Normally he runs away at the sight of monsters…" Pondering for a few moments, the man added, "And he hardly seems the type to try his hand at gardening. Anyway—" He straightened up. "—it's bad karma, man. You could be attacked if you went in."

The man turned around and raised his axe high up in the air and brought it crashing down against the thick bark of the log. Splitting it in two easily, he knocked once piece of it away and took another out and put it back on the stump.

Ammy yawned widely and sat back on her haunches, snapping at the little bits of wood shavings and chips that flew her way. As the forms of dark green scroll-like objects that hovered above the ground started to draw closer, and as the distant howling of wolves drew steadily closer, the axmen put away his axe and quickly turned in for the night, retreating to the confines of his tiny shack.

Ammy, not all too eager for a fight at the moment, turned towards the river and jumped across it. Without turning back to see if the scroll—which Issun called 'Demon Scrolls'—was after her, she quickly scampered into Hana Valley.

**Well.**

**This was rather overdue. Anybody who agrees? Please don't ask me when the next update will be. It will be updated sometime, but probably not within next week, tomorrow, etc., etc. I'm currently focused on my other Okami fic—Flickering Memories. (I'm a Ninetails whore if you read it. :D)**

**Anyway, CC appreciated! (Or just good ol' praise if that's what you feel like you're up to.)**

**Oh, and also, I didn't mess with the villager's dialogue a bit. The nameless axe guy at the end actually spoke like that. (I forgot what line it was, but it sounded as if it was missing a word.)**

**-Tainted Lullaby**

**-October 24****th****, 2008. **


	3. Descendant of Nagi II

**Yo, peoples. I'm going to describe the area, but you won't _fully _know what it looks like unless you've played the game. (I'm assuming all you people out there –wave- have played it, or else you wouldn't be looking at this in the first place, unless you found it on my profile or something) Oh, and here is y'all overdue chapter. (If you can guess what state I live in, you win a free coupon on a rib-eye steak at your nearest participating WalMart or Walgreens.)**

**Some of you may have noticed that it said that the fic was updated. Actually, chapter one was. I noticed two mistakes from just glancing at it and had to fix it. x.x**

* * *

**PART ONE: Rebirth of the Goddess**

**Golden Rays**

**Chapter Two: Descendant of Nagi II**

Without turning back to see if the scroll—which Issun called 'Demon Scrolls'—was after her, she quickly scampered into Hana Valley.

o O o O o O o O o

The sky above Hana Valley was a dark, ugly brown color with black wisps that resembled clouds floating through it. Bone-chilling winds blew constantly throughout the area, stirring the white goddess' fur with each violent breeze. The gurgling of the nearby river was replaced by the nasty sludge-sliding sound and coated every leaf in a thick mess of brown-gray muck. Ammy looked around the area with large blue eyes, scanning the valley for any signs of green imps or any other monster that dared venture out of the shadows.

The place itself was rather large and was surrounded by large hills and mini-mountains on all sides. The path she walked upon was narrow and had a small trail of tiny pebbles and sand cutting through it that served as a pathway for travelers who dared to venture in the area. Issun shivered as another cold wind sliced through the air and chilled him to the bone. Pulling up a few bits of Ammy's hair to use as a blanket, he peered up from her snowy white pelt and looked around the area with big eyes.

Ammy walked along the path, hugging close to the edge of the canyon wall and came upon a small wooden bridge that was made up by three logs tied loosely together. She lightly stepped over them and padded over onto a much higher ledge. She ran up a small incline…and that's when she saw them. A group of around five green imps—two of them with a banjo—were all dancing and eating rice cakes and sipping on sake around a fire.

The golden light of the fire flickered by itself outside the mouth of another cave—a much, much darker cave. The white wolf watched them for a few moments before she decided to move in. As she crept up behind the imps and suddenly lunged at them, they all flew up a few feet in the air, shocked and confused. Each imp grabbed their flute or banjo and immediately whipped around.

Ammy, using the element of surprise, quickly raced up upon one imp that had failed to turn around quick enough. She lunged for the back of his neck and quickly snapped it and sprang off him and looked around, eyes flashing dangerously. One imp struck out at her with his flute and knocked her in the rib cage. She quickly spun around and latched onto it, growling angrily and pulling back. She drew one quick brushstroke along its stomach and sliced it in two.

She flung out her weapon with a nimble twist her of her back and knocked another imp in the head. It flew back into the red ring and stood up dizzily, clutching his flute with unsteady hands. Ammy let a wolfish smirk cross her face and wheeled around…only to come head-first into the end of one of the larger imp's banjo. She unsteadily walked backwards, her world spinning before her. Issun pulled tightly on fur and urged her to her paws, and she shakily stood up, growling and crouched low to the ground. Ammy lunged forward at the imp and snapped her jaws shut on its masked face and heard the sound of bones crunching.

She quickly drew a single line across it, and with another shink, the banjo-wielding imp fell in two pieces and disappeared in a rain of cherry blossom flowers. The ring quickly vanished into the musky air, taking the imps with it.

A sound that sounded close to a flute came from the nearby stream, and with perked-up ears, Ammy raced over to the side of the ledge and peered down it to see fountains of blue water shoot up and go back into the murky and sludgy water. Leaf-green lily pads formed on top of the water and started to float away daintily downstream…only to disappear along with the newly-found clean water. It quickly faded away to the dark brown substance with black lines weaving through it. The smell of death and decay quickly returned to the cold and chilling breeze that blew throughout the valley, and to stop from shivering, Ammy fluffed up her pelt against the chilling winds.

She watched with forlorn and solemn eyes as the last hint of green completely disappeared, sighing in a wolfish fashion. "Huh?" Issun asked, leaning over her left brow to peer down closer at the murky and tainted water. "We got rid of the monsters, so why did the gods' power disappear? Guess the curse on the gods of these lands must be really strong," he sighed. "They can't intervene until we do something about this stagnant air."

With quiet pawsteps, Ammy took a right to face the large cave before her. It was more of a tunnel than a cave and was held up by wooden supports with evidence of rot forming deep and hollow gashes in parts of the boards. She padded through the dark tunnel, lightly stepping over bent and split nails, and breathed in the musky scent of the thick and humid air.

She passed by two lit torches on the other end of the tunnel and stepped out of the darkness to find herself standing on a large cliff that towered over a large pond filled with water. Ammy trotted along the sandy dirt path with blades of grass poking up in it and came to a halt when she noticed something.

There was a tree in front of her a few away with gnarled and twisted branches. Dead leaves, dark brown and sickly green in color, hung off the very end of the branches and swayed with the movement of the odd tree. The tree's branches moved on its own, though, and that was the most outstanding feature. Ammy cocked her head to the side and gazed at it curiously.

"Hey! Check out that tree! It's moving!" Issun called out excitedly. The sickly-looking tree seemed to stare straight at them. "Better be careful, Ammy…" he added in a low whisper.

Ammy had started to take a single step forward when all of a sudden the tree turned a dark shade of brown and pushed its branches together. Twirling around, it conjured up a large pink bud and flung it at the goddess. Ammy dodged out of the bud's path and quickly drew a single brushstroke across it. The bud went flying back at the tree and hit it right in the middle of its trunk, stunning it.

Instead of having dark brown and ugly bark, the stunned mutated plant turned a striking shade of golden-brown and dropped its branches to its sides. "Ammy!" Issun stood up. "Did you just do what I think you did?" he asked incredulously, looking at the stunned and confused tree. "Did you use Power Slash to hit the tree's fruit right back at it? Heh heh…" he laughed. "It's wearing taste of its own medicine! Let's pass on by this creepy old tree while we can," he suggested.

Ammy nodded and left the tree behind her. She continued to follow the path that hugged the canyon wall when she came upon another one of the trees nestled amongst a few regular pines and oaks. The monstrous tree did the same as the other and reeled back to throw a bud at her, and Ammy, being quick with her brush, slashed the bud back at it and raced on ahead.

There was another part to the area that was separated by a large space and was loosely connected by a wooden plank bridge. Ammy uneasily stepped on the first board, the bridge groaning and moving beneath her weight. The ropes that acted as support rails had gaping holes through them, allowing for anyone to easily slip through them and go crashing into the far-off water below them.

With a surge of determination clearly etched across her white-furred face, the wolf goddess took off across the old and creaky bridge and skidded to a halt once she reached the other side. She shook out tiny bits of dirt from her blazing fur and stopped before she could veer to the left. A large patch of dead grass and rotten bones were lying on the ground, flies and maggots accumulating on top of the carrion.

Ammy wrinkled up her nose in disgust and walked off the patch and continued along the path. She found herself loping up a large incline with towering trees on both sides of her and stopped when she rounded the corner and came face-to-face with one of the mutant trees. She growled lowly and slashed it before it could even start to throw the bud at her.

Instead, she was focused on a small statue right beside it with weeds springing up all around it and moss growing in the indentions of the object. She could have sworn she saw a person as the figure, but she wasn't sure. "The statue's all dirty…" Issun murmured, leaning over her brow again. "Kind of feel sorry for it standing in a place like this."

Ammy shook her head as if in agreement and turned away from the old statue. She sped off up the hill at a face-paced traced and skidded to a halt at the top, bits of dirt and grass becoming dislodged from beneath her claws. Ammy paused beneath another one of the wooden red structures and walked slowly to the left. She carefully avoided the steep ledge on her right and walked out onto a stone platform that jutted out from the original path. She stood directly in front of a picture-like stone slab on the canyon wall.

Instead of being just a simple gray color, the slab was decorated with numerous symbols and designs. Though instead of having elaborate stones and gems embedded in it, a swirling mass of red and black covered it, blocking it from all who dared look at it. Ammy shook her head and trotted on, passing through a large clearing. Instead she focused her pretty azure eyes on what lay at the opposite end of the clearing. Knitting her brows together and squinting her eyes, she could clearly see Susano using all his might trying to move a wall ten times his size.

Ammy's ear pricked forward, and just as she was about to take a step forward, two green imps in tattered clothing jumped down from seperate boulders. They danced from toe to toe, instruments held up to their mouths, and before Ammy could lunge at them, a new type of enemy came darting forward from beneath the ground. It circled the small clearing for a few seconds until it popped out of the ground in one big motion. Instead of being green like its counterparts, the new imp was yellow and held on tightly to a large drum. The yellow imp held up to large drumsticks and beat down on the drum heavily before disappearing beneath the ground once more.

Another red ring formed around the four, springing up from the ground and forming a tight arena around them. The two green imps rushed at the wolf goddess immediately and Ammy, not wasting any time, quickly dispatched them with a single stroke of her Celestial Brush. Issun clung onto the fur between her ears for dear life as she twisted and turned and dodged her new enemy's attacks.

The burrowing imp made dead beelines for her and occasionally sprung out of the ground from time to time, sending showers of dirt raining upon the wolf. One time, though, he stayed up. Ammy raced forward at him with bared fangs and her Divine Retribution spinning madly, the flames snaking in between each single hair on her pelt. Before she could lunge at the imp, he reared back with his hands and came smashing down against his drum. A long earthquake-like trail of dirt came straight at the goddess. Leaping in the air, Ammy narrowly dodged it.

She fell to the ground panting and glared daggers at the yellow imp. With rage seething off of her, she raced forward blindly and lashed out at the golden-colored imp. Her weapon crashed into both of his sides, nearly knocking the breath out of him. Issun yelled something at her above the roaring and snarling, but his words were quickly lost in the onslaught of fur and fangs. Paw against head, Ammy sank her teeth into the imp's shoulder and smashed his head against her spinning disc-like weapon. A deafening crack rippled throughout the area as the imp's head was smashed in.

Ammy did a backflip back and landed nimbly on her paws and, with a growl, gave the imp a quick slash, and within record time, his body started to disappear. Ammy stopped crouching low to the ground and stood straight up, shook her fur out, and looked back at the slab on the wall. The red and black swirls lit up to a bright yellow color and then disappeared in a flash, revealing the designs behind them to be three stages of a tree's life, an empty spot in the upper right-hand corner, a giant orb on a pedestal in front of the sun's rays, and three people walking towards the sphere.

...Though one thing was missing: the sun itself. Instead of there being a large golden orb hanging in the sky, it was just a gray space with little lines coming out from it which were obviously its rays.

With a sigh, Ammy turned around and looked to the far end of the cavern where Susano was, and with a short-lived grin, she trotted up to his side and looked up at him. "Hm? What's all that racket?" Susano growled, wiping a thin line of sweat off his forehead. He gave a short glance behind him and then turned around, but before he could put his hands back on the wall, he whipped around. "Oh, it's you, mutt!" he exclaimed irritably. "What're you doing here?" When Ammy nor Issun didn't reply, he added, "Go home! I already told you that I'm not looking for apprentices. Anyway, Hana Valley is no place for a mutt like you."

Ammy, with a bored sigh, sat down on her haunches while Issun jumped up and down angrily between her ears.

"Beyond this point lies my secret training ground," he said proudly, crossing his arms. "It's the perfect place to hide..." he said lowly in a tiny whisper. Ammy easily caught what he said and pricked her ears. "Er... I mean to train!" He stood up straight. "Now scoot! Be off with ya!" he yelled. Susano quickly grabbed his sword and lashed out at Ammy. The goddess dodged his swing by doing a nimble backflip backwards. She landed neatly on the ground, growling.

Susano turned around irritably and walked back over to the wall and started pushing on it, more sweat building up on his forehead. Ammy rolled her eyes and walked back over to the painting that was missing a sun. Stepping in front of it, Issun said, "Wow; check out that wall painting." Issun's eyes widened as he pointed up at the painting. "It's said that a crystal sphere that makes trees grow is enshrined somewhere around here," he explained. "Based on the painting here, I'd say the rumor must be true. Still, something's not right..." Issun edged closer to the end of Ammy's nose and pointed up at the missing spot on the painting. "Don't you think there's something missing from the painting?"

With a thoughtful nod, Ammy took a few steps back, whipped out her Celestial Brush, and drew a large circle in the upper right corner of the picture. A beam of orange and white surrounded the painting for a few seconds, and when it dissipated, an orange lineart-like sun was left behind, glowing brightly in contrast to the dull and boring brown-gray of the rest of the painting.

The new rays from the newly-painted sun made their way over to the wall that Susano, who had since given up and was now standing beneath a candle, had been pushing on. A faint white ring made an imprint on it, and in a bright flash, the wall exploded in a shower of rocks, pebbles, and dust. Sludgy water came gushing out of the stream that was behind the wall and joined its brethren at the base of the waterfall, and Ammy, with a happy expression, trotted over to Susano.

"What in heaven's name!? How did that happen?" he asked, staring in disbelief at the new corridor that had opened up. "Well, now I can go hide--er... I mean now I can go train!" he proclaimed loudly. And in a flash, Susano took off down the hallway.

o O o O o O o O o

Ammy waited behind, listening intently as Susano's footsteps soon disappeared. Once she could no longer hear him, she bounded off after him through the new corridor, racing through the darkened hallway with another murky stream on her right side. Ammy halted to a stop once she came face-to-face with a small ledge. Growling, she leaned back on her hindlegs and, with a mighty leap, scrambled onto the top of the ledge. She loped through the rest of the hall for about twenty yards until she had to stop again.

A large room--larger than the one from before--opened up before her. A broken trail of stones and rocks led to an object in the middle of the room that was surrounded by two large mounds. A little green plant with a single leaf bounced up and down, and as Ammy peered in closer, she could see an empty fountain-like object shaped like a bowl. Tiny white wisps floated through the air, and a small breeze blew throughout the new room, parting the clouds above and giving the wolf goddess a clear view of the night sky, each individual star twinkling brightly.

Padding in reluctantly, Ammy sniffed the ground cautiously and padded up to the small indention in the ground behind the plant. It was like a puddle and was filled with sky-blue water, and as she sniffed it, tiny ripples danced off the end of her whiskers. "What a strange place," Issun said, sitting on the end of her muzzle. "Is this really the secret training ground Susano mentioned? Speaking of which..." Issun stood up tall and looked around the room. "...Where'd pops go, anyway?"

The blinding white she-wolf walked up to the plant and sniffed it. "What's up with this tiny sapling?" he asked. "Hm? I smell a faint scent like Sakuya's coming from this sapling!" he proclaimed happily. Ammy rolled her eyes, shook her head, and turned left. Before she could go any further, though, five large, wooden stakes were in the ground, acting as a makeshift gate. Ammy drew a quick slash across the five boards, and in no time, the pieces of them lay scattered all over.

With speedy pawsteps, the white goddess took off into the new place that lay ahead. It was a pathway that hugged close to the sides of canyon, small trees and grass on her left side blocking out the view of the cursed lands of Shinshu Fields. She loped her way down the stone and brick trail for a few minutes until a strong scent hit her nostrils. Slowing down to a walk, another room lay in front of her. She cautiously padded inside, flicking her ears all around and surveying her new surroundings.

Susano stood in the middle of the room, his sword held out in front of him, and numerous torches aligned up in a circle. The most peculiar thing, though, was the animal inside the room besides herself. A large, brown bear was heavily asleep on top of a large cerulean orb, a tiny leaf on top of its head that swayed with the bear's movements. Loud snores came from the bear's barely opened lips, and its massive paws were limb at its side.

Susano let out a human-like roar and moved his sword into position. "What now?" Issun sighed, bouncing up and down on Ammy's head.

"You..." Susano's voice faltered as he prepared to swing his sword down. "You foul beast!" he cried out. "How did you get in here!?"

"Foul beast?" Issun loosely echoed.

"You have some nerve sneaking into my private training ground," Susano growled, throwing his sword up on his shoulders. "Now you shall get a taste of my new secret technique!"

"Your 'foul beast' looks like an ordinary sleepy bear, pops," Issun pointed out thoughtfully.

"Enough talk!" Susano snapped. "My blade thirsts for battle. Here goes nothing!" he exclaimed loudly, taking a mighty step backwards. "Susano-style... Susano!" In an instant, Susano rushed at one of the lit torches and lashed out at it with his sword. Right before his blade could touch it, Ammy hurriedly drew a quick slash across it. He ran after four more torches, and by the time he finished, Ammy's tail hung limply at her side. Susano backed up between the Poncle and Ammy, held his sword back, and said slowly, "Now for Susano-Style..." He paused for dramatic effect. "...Exploding Implosion!" he yelled out.

The male human's voice rang about the hollow room in joyous laughter as Ammy gave the bear a quick slash across its stomach, leaving Susano to think he'd done it himself. The bear, on the other hand, snapped awake, a shocked and frightened expression plastered across its face. Rubbing one of its eyes sleepily, the bear allowed the sphere to roll away and let itself fall on its back.

Susano peered closer and said, "Hm?" After it became apparent the bear wasn't going to stand back up, he burst out into laughter, clutching his stomach furiously as he gasped for breath. Ammy and Issun both watched him with flat looks, their eyes dull and void of all emotion. "That'll teach you, you foolish beast!" he said once he was done laughing out his lungs. "You're no match for my new secret technique!"

"..." Issun stared at Susano's hunched-over form.

Ammy walked forward and stared up at Susano with wide blue eyes. Susano, clearly shocked, let out a small cough and straightened up. "Um...uh..." he stuttered, trying to find the correct words. "Rest in peace, foul beast," he said lowly, bowing his head half-heartedly. "The great warrior Susano condemns the offense, not the offender. Anyway, there are other monsters I must deal with," he added, yawning. And with that, Susano took off out the room, laughing his head off the whole way.

Issun and Ammy stayed behind for a while, Ammy flicking her ears in confusion and watching the small swirls of dust die down. Once the duo were both positive Susano was gone, Ammy trotted over to the blue-green sphere and peered down at it curiously. "This crystal sphere is filled with leaves," Issun said, looking down closer at it from the tip of the goddess' nose. "Is this the sphere used in a ritual for a good harvest or something? Hey, didn't that wall painting have a sphere-like object in it?" he said.

Ammy's thoughts quickly flashed back to the painting with the sun shining down upon an orb and its rays being reflected onto a young sapling that steadily grew into a tree. Shaking away the memory, she looked at the orb and nodded. Pushing it with her head, she guided the aqua-colored sphere out of the empty room and onto the path. She quietly rolled it back into the room with the tiny leaf-green sapling in it, and pushing it around on the ramp-like inclines behind it, she set the sphere on top of the puddle.

Once the orb touched the surface of the puddle, a tiny stream of water came up, making the sphere bounce up and down. "Wow!" Issun exclaimed. "Someone had a lot of time on their hands to think all this up. So this _was _that sphere in that wall painting!" Ammy's thoughts flickered back to the painting that showed the sun shining down upon the sphere and the sphere reflecting the rays at the sapling, causing it to grow into a majestic tree. "I bet this sphere is magic or something!"

Walking to the end of the platform behind the bouncing orb, Ammy looked up at the darkened night sky. She drew a quick circle in it, and within moments, a bright, fiery orange and yellow sun appeared, the clouds and shadows soon disappearing. The blinding white and light yellow rays came down directly at the aqua sphere, and in return, the orb reflected the sun's light onto the sapling.

The young tree gave a few jerks to left and to the right, and as if on cue, it slowly started to grow upwards, the very tip of it curling over. The light green base of the sapling thickened out dramatically, turned a dark brown color, and hard bark started to grow on its edges. Massive roots took hold in the ground, breaking through the concrete bricks and sending cracks through the rocks and boulders in the area. Ammy and Issun watched from a safe distance, awe in Issun's wide, beady brown eyes.

"Hey, is this a Guardian Sapling? It's still withered like the others." Issun bounced up and down on the tip of Ammy's ebony-colored nose. Shaking her head from side to side, he became dislodged and quickly sought out refuge between her ears. It was as he was about to sit down that the sky turned a dark blue-black color once again. Ammy's eyes immediately turned skyward, and she soon spied tiny white sparles floating down from the newly-revealed stars along with small shafts of moonlight. "What the?" Issun muttered. "Who turned out the lights? Oh..." Realization soon struck Issun like a lightning bolt. "It's another constellation, Ammy!" he cheered.

The wolf's eyes rested upon a constellation with three stars, and upon looking closer, she could faintly make out the outline of some type of animal. Two stars were obviously missing on the nearly-vertical line of stars, and with a raised tail, she quickly put two dots in their needed place. It took about five seconds until the god behind the constellation revealed itself to be a monkey. With blazing ivory fur, it came spinning out of the beautiful night sky with a golden object in its right paw.

Ammy, Issun, and the monkey god were soon in the off-yellow-brown world again, Ammy sitting back on her haunches and watching the monkey balance in front of her on one leg as if it were bowing before her. The god soon sat down, too, and said, "Ah... Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all... My gratitude for releasing my body from its slumber. Please accept my humble thanks in return for your kindness. I am Sakigami, one of the triumvirate of flora gods known as the Hanagami. My brethren and I have been entrusted with the brush techniques known collectively as Greensprout. I now grant my humble power to you. Use it wisely," Sakigami finished with, bowing once again.

Sakigami took the golden object in his hands and proceeded to call forth another Japanese character, and with a smile, sent it towards the wolf goddess.

With another bow, he quick disappeared, as did the spiritual-like world they were previously in.

o O o O o O o O o

"That was Sakigami, one of the gods of flora!" Issun exclaimed once they were back in Hana Valley. "Apparently the bloom brush technique can make flowers blossom simply by drawing a circle on a withered tree," he added, poking Ammy above her left eye, dropping an obvious hint. "Hey! Maybe it'll make the withered Guardian Saplings blossom, too!"

Ammy didn't waste any more time than needed.

Before Issun could blink, a quick circle was drawn around the very top of the naked tree. A low whistling sound carried around the area on a light wind, and the next thing the Poncle and wolf knew, cherry blossom petals were dancing around the area. Each petal was a light pink color with tiny white flecks on it, and they surrounded the entire area, masking the floor in a sweet scent. Ammy snapped at a few petals and leaves that came near her happily.

The duo both watched in glee as Hana Valley was restored. A strong breeze quickly formed and blew the fresh petals across and throughout the valley, restoring the sludgy river that flowed through the place into a rushing river of light blue. The wilted trees and grass quickly turned green again, and even the diseased smell of the area turned sweet and light again. Tall grass sprung up around the guardian sapling's roots along with pretty yellow, pink, purple, white, orange, blue, and red flowers.

"Wow!" Issun exclaimed breathlessly. "Look at how everything grew back so quick! Sakuya wasn't kidding about the power of the Guardian Saplings!" Issun smiled happily and took a proud look around. "So this is what Hana Valley's supposed to look like... Seems Sakuya's Guardian Sapling has lifted the evil curse. I'm not sure how weak the gods have become lately... But it must have taken some wickedly strong power to suppress this magnificent Guardian Sapling!" Issun paused briefly. "Even if you are Shiranui reborn, we might be up for more than we bargained for. ...Hey, Ammy! What about that withered Guardian Sapling outside? I bet you could revive it like you did this one! And by bringing that Guardian Sapling back to life, we might be able to lift the curse there, too! What are we waiting for? Leap before you think, right!?"

Issun grinned like a madman.

Ammy let out a happy bark in agreement and walked away from the tree, a small mote of water having built up around it. The water was moist and ice-cold and felt good beneath her sore paws, and with Issun holding on, Ammy raced out of the room happily. She raced through the narrow hallway, the river now flowing freely and the water now a sky-blue color. Leaping over the small ledge and continuing on, she skidded to a halt in the room with the painting in it.

Another one of the red rings quickly sprung up around her and two greens imps and a yellow imp appeared again. Ammy dropped low to the ground and let loose a loud snarl, and without wasting any time, she lunged for the two green imps first. She quickly dispatched the first one with a blow to the head from her weapon, and she turned around and caught the other one with her fangs and hindpaws.

Swinging him around like a ragdoll, she threw him into the stone-like wall of the arena. Meanwhile, the yellow imp was busily looking around for her, a confused expression across his dirty face. Ammy crept up behind him and delivered a quick blow to the side of his head, bringing him out of the ground. She tried to give him a slash across the drum, but instead of drawing a line, it ended up coming out crooked and just coated him in ink.

The imp took to blindly swinging out at her with his drumsticks, one of them striking her in the side. Ammy snarled in anger and brought her Divine Retribution crashing into his side again and again. Once he fell down backwards, she finally delivered the fatal strike across him. The imp quickly disappeared in a mess of flora, and within no time, the red ring quickly dissipated.

In place of the former arena, a fresh blanket of grass and flowers sprung up from the ground, and a little family of warthogs and two piglets were left behind, digging up the grass and searching around for bugs. Ammy continued loping down the path and came back to the part of Hana Valley where the cursed trees were, the steep canyon sides still on her left with a large waterfall dumping thousands of gallons of water to form a pool at the bottom.

"That creepy old tree just won't give up," Issun said, watching the blackened tree 'watch' them. "...I've got an idea, Ammy! Maybe you could hit its fruit back at it, and while it's stunned, you could use Bloom to rid it of its evil!" he suggested excitedly.

Taking Issun's suggestion, Ammy walked up boldly to the tree and stood in front of it. The cursed plant reared back, spun around, and threw a newly-formed bud at the wolf goddess. Ammy quickly drew a single line across it and sent it flying back at the tree. As it hit it, Ammy trotted forward eagerly and drew a circle around the tree while it was dazed.

It worked.

The tree turned a lovely shade of brown and it quickly grew leaves and flowers. Three apples dropped out of it, and Ammy raced forward and threw one on her back to Issun. "Whoa, Ammy; hold on!" Issun called out before Ammy could cross the bridge. The same cursed patch of land with the rotting bones and flesh on it was still there, still giving off a putrid and vile scent. "Hana Valley looks so much better now, but... What about this gloomy patch of grass? You could use the power of Bloom to fill it in," he suggested. "Just fill it with your brush, and Bloom will take care of it!"

Ammy whipped out her Celestial Brush and started painting all over the ground, filling in the patch of dead grass and carrion with a large coating of black ink. Stepping back to admire her handiwork, she let out a happy bark when the paint disappeared and fresh grass and flowers were left behind. Issun looked above her ears and spied something. Bringing Ammy in closer, a folded up brown scroll with a tan edge was laying amongst the grass with a red bow holding it together. Peering closer, the words 'Greensprout Tips' were engraved in it.

"There was a scroll here, too, eh? Ammy, this looks like the travel guide! It's an ancient record of pilgrimage across the land. If this were the real thing, it'd normally be worth a fortune, but with all the copies out there, you probably wouldn't get much for it. At any rate, if you ever wanna read it, just ask."** (1) **"It may sound rather preachy, but it should at least help you in your travels."

Ammy gave a wolfish nod and turned back to the creaky and broken old bridge. She ran along it, crossing over the enormous pool of water below her, and arrived on the other side.

o O o O o O o O o

There was a short encounter with more imps dancing and singing around the previous fire...except for the fact that these were drunk off their instruments. Ammy quickly dispatched them and continued on her way, ignoring the monkeys that had taken over the area where the fire used to be. The white goddess raced down the three loosely-tied logs and placed her paws on the newly restored land, and with a sharp intake of the cool air around her, she darted back into the cursed area of Shinshu Field.

o O o O o O o O o

"Okay, that's a new brush technique in the bag!" Issun happily exclaimed. "Now, Ammy, before you get all excited and forget what you're supposed to do, remember that you can always take a look inside your journal. Also remember, first things first! Okay, let's get going!" Ammy nodded and took a flying leap over the calm stream, now blue instead of the murky brown-purple color. She noticed a human-shaped figure standing right beside the axman's log house.

"Freaky..." he murmured as Issun and Ammy drew close to him. "It looks like the river suddenly cleared up. I did see Susano whizzing past here a little while ago... But surely it wasn't him who cleared up the river, was it? Nah... That wouldn't make any sense." The man sighed heavily and dropped his arms to his side, shaking his head while watching small minnows boldly venture to the surface.

Ammy ignored the man's muttering and started trotting off to the large bare tree in the very middle of the field, the tree itself just mere inches away from the cursed zone. She stood about fifteen yards away from the withered formerly-magnificent tree, and with a quick circle around the very top of it, another shower of petals came spiraling to the ground. Each little pink and white petal lightly floated to the ground, and with the slightest touch, numerous flowers and stalks of grass sprang up.

The duo both watched in amazement and glee as the ground and soil, once black and vile-smelling, became a rich dusty-brown color. All the trees in the area sprang back to the life with perky green leaves, the hills and large slopes became covered in vegetation, sparrows and robins started darting throughout the air, doing nose dives and singing their pretty songs, and rabbits, hogs, horses, and the occasional piglet all found their former places in the newly-restored field.

The salty and churning waves of the ocean turned a loving shade of blue, seagulls took to circling and dancing throughout the air, and the sun, in all its golden glory, revealed itself from behind the mask of soft and white, fluffy clouds that concealed it. The broken and weathered stone building that sat atop the largest hill of them all was outlined in a striking white in contrast to the pale blue of the sky.

Ammy and Issun both inhaled deeply, quickly letting the new and fresh scents of Shinshu Field wash over them. The black mask that the land quickly washed away, and in the next few minutes, Shinshu Field was restored to its former glory. Ammy inhaled once again and scanned the area for the slightest sign of a constellation, and, when seeing that there wasn't one, she flattened her ears.

"Wow!" Issun gasped. "That nasty cursed zone is completely gone! The plants and animals are back, and just feel that fresh breeze! Now, that's what I call _Great Divine Intervention,_" he said with a smile. "If you keep on dispelling the evil curse like this, I bet the gods of nature will lend you their powers!"

Ammy looked around the area, and as her eyes traveled over one of the many cliffs that surrounded the field, she spied a tiny plant off in the distance at the very top of one of the cliffs that overlooked Hana Valley. It gave three small jerks, and as soon as Ammy's eyes rested upon it, it slowly grew into a strong and amazing large tree. Instead of having flowers like the others, the new tree was covered in a thick blanket of emerald-green leaves.

"Hey, that's..." Issun trailed off, staring up at the tree in pure amazement. "That's Sakuya's tree, isn't it? Maybe she perked up 'cause you revived a Guardian Sapling? Well, we can stop by and see her later. I mean, we're kinda on a roll here. How about we take a look around Shinshu Field first? You've been gone one-hundred years, right? A good run around the place will do ya good!"

Ammy nodded in a careless manner and walked around the Guardian Sapling, being extra careful not to step on one of the dainty and small leaves. A small black chest with gold edges and a golden lock sat nestled between two large roots, and numerous poppies and daffodils surrounded it. Ammy headbutted the chest. A few flakes of rust fell off the old lock, and carefully undoing it with her sharp and pointed canine teeth, a traveler's charm rested at the bottom, age evident across its dusty and faded surface.

The wolf goddess carefully picked up the sheet of paper lightly in her jaws and stood up tall, her azure gaze surveying the area. Beyond the small river that ran behind the Guardian Sapling was another path that slowly made an incline up towards a loose wooden bridge. Ammy shrugged and jumped in the smoothly-flowing stream and jumped out on the other side. Shaking out all the water droplets in her stunning white fur, she trotted forward to see a man struggling to stand up on the ground, a small stick in his hand with a yellow package tied to the end of it.

He was a very frail and thin man who was clad in purple clothing with a sweatband tied tightly across his forehead. His messy black hair was cut close to his scalp, and the sandals he wore were nearly worn down to the sole. The man's skin was tanned from weeks of being in the sun, his clothes were tattered and thorns stuck out of them, his hands were blistered, and he reeked of sweat.

Ammy curled her lips up in disgust and looked away from him and started to turn around, but froze when he said, "Ow, ow, ow... What's going on? Ida of the Dangan Express never trips up!" Ida struggled to get to his feet once more. "I've fallen and I can't get up! Must be a curse..." he muttered. "I don't have time for fallin' over! People are waitin' for mail! Those monsters must have set some kinda of trap for me as a joke... Darn it!" Ida cursed. "I knew I should have bought a traveler's charm!"

Issun lightly clutched the faded blue traveler's charm with orange markings on it in his hand.

"Hey, pooch! That's a traveler's charm you've got there, isn't it?" Ida asked happily, weakly pointing to the charm. Issun nodded slowly and handed it over. In a flash, Ida was back up on his feet. "Oh, yes!" he cried out joyously. "I feel so light! My body feels as light as a feather!" he yelled and started jogging in place. "Thanks, pooch! You saved me! Can't hang about; gotta catch up on my deliveries!" Ida didn't waste anymore time than needed, and with a final salute to the wolf and Issun, he took off up the steady incline.

The two watched in a still silence as Ida raced about the field screaming happily, and after a short while, Ammy shook her head and turned around. She loped down to the Hana Valley entrance and noticed an old and worn-out gate sitting by itself directly across the river. It was made of chipped concrete blocks and had a split wooden roof that was caked in moss and grime. Little green swirls floated around it, and Issun called out, "Whoa! What's up with this old gate? I don't like the looks of it..." he murmured lowly to the goddess. "It's just teeming with evil power; I can feel it! Still, you being a god and all, we can't just ignore it. Whaddya think, my furry friend? We going through it, or what?"

Ammy sighed loudly and trotted through the gate, her pawsteps heavy and slow.

Another one of the red rings quickly popped up in a circle around her, and one flute-playing imp along with two banjo ones sprung up, dancing wildly from foot to foot.

She unleashed a loud howl and sprang at the first green imp, slashed him once, and moved onto the other two. Ammy let loose a loud snarl and sank her teeth into the tiny throat of one of the banjo-wielding imps. Its partner lashed out with his weapon and struck Ammy in one of her hindlegs. She howled out in pain and whipped around and smashed her disc into its head, leaving the imp on the ground writhing in pain. She finished both of them off with a quick brushstroke, and instead of having the ring disappear like she expected, three more imps appeared out of thin air.

She quickly dispatched them like the previous three imps and prepared to see if another wave of the invaders would appear, and when they didn't, she straightened out her back and regained her cool and calm composure. Once the ring completely vanished, the gate went along with it, and in its place formed two medium-sized wooden shacks that were separated by a large gray boulder. One shack--the left one--was next to the outside wall of Hana Valley, and the other one on the right was placed between two stumps with a long, large log in front of it.

The left shack had a few wooden boards scattered around it in the front, and a tall tree grew behind it. A fire crackled in front of the right shack, and Ammy smiled when she heard a shocked gasp come from the axman.

"So that's it," Issun said. "These things are gateways to monster lairs! I've heard of such gates before; they're called Devil Gates," he explained. "Those monsters got a lotta nerve building things like that! Let's tear 'em down wherever we find 'em!"

Ammy leaped across the flowing river and padded up to the axman's side. "It's been ages since I've seen the river looking so healthy. That magical crystal ball must be working its mojo." The duo both left the axman to ponder the newly-restored field and cut across the field to the merchant who was sitting a few yards away from the Guardian Sapling.

"Now, let's see... What am I doing here again?" he wondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, yes. I took shelter under this Guardian Sapling when I heard that terrifying sound before like a monster growling. Well, this is perfect! It's fate! Why don't I set up shop here? You know where to come when you're sent shopping, right, pooch?" he asked, reaching out one arm to scratch Ammy behind her left ear. "Oh, yes. I don't know if you'll understand this, but here goes... I'd like to ask you a favor; it'll be a cinch with your nose. If you sniff out any nice bowls or dishes lying about, don't just leave them to rot away. Bring them to me, would you?" he asked politely. "If you turn up any treasures that are worth a bit, I'll pay you!"

"Treasures?" Issun loosely echoed. "Hmmm... You found anything like that, Ammy? If you did, you should sell it," he suggested. "I mean, what are you gonna do with pots and dishes?" He let out a short snicker. "It's hard to sell stuff you worked hard to get, but don't worry! All the treasures you collect will be catalogued in the journal!"

"What are you mumbling about?" the merchant asked, rubbing his tired eyes. "Have you got some things for me?" Ammy shook her head, yawned, and raced over back to behind the Guardian Sapling. Sitting on the opposite side of the river slightly below the cliff, in all its ugly glory, was another Devil Gate. Issun nudged the wolf behind her ears, urging her to go through it. Ammy leaped over the river in a single graceful leap and ran through the gate.

It didn't take her long at all to quickly dispatch the three banjo-wielding imps and the yellow one until the land where the gate once stood was restored. A single rock and numerous wildflowers sprang up from out of the ground with little cotton-white rabbits hopping around the area. Ammy trotted away from the area and loped up the hill behind the area. Standing on top of it, she surveyed the field below and quickly spied a patch of diseased land directly next to the canyon that separated Hana Valley from Kamiki Village.

Ammy took a flying leap off the cliff and landed neatly on the ground. As soon as her paws made contact with the land, she raced forward, eyes focused on the patch of dead grass. She smeared the area in a giant wad of black ink and stood back to admire her work. The thick purple haze that shrouded the area soon disappeared, and with its vanishing act, so did the dead and rotting grass. Four tiny boar piglets were left in its wake, each one of them turning up grass and sniffing out grubs beneath the roots of the new wildflowers. Ammy took a few moments to enjoy the little animals that were scrounging around for insects for a few minutes, and after deciding she'd had enough, she turned to her left and looked up.

The bridge that stretched out across the river between two large cliffs had a path that came winding down. The trail itself went right, then left, then right again until it came down to the main part of the field. Sitting on the second 'layer' on a big open part of land was another Devil Gate, this one sitting atop a bunch of odd white markings and symbols made of sand. She sighed with a sullen look and walked into the gate. Three green imps with flutes and three larger imps all appeared and were dispatched in record time. Once the ring dissipated, Ammy was left standing in the midst of four spike-like rocks that jutted out of the ground vertically. Another golden and black chest appeared, only this one was in the middle of the rocks.

Ammy headbutted the chest and found a light-blue vengeance slip inside. Picking it up, she headed up the path. The white wolf took a left, then a right, and instead of going left again, she stopped at the middle layer and walked all the way to the edge of it. A few yards below her and a few yards away from her was a small wooden house with a Devil Gate right beside it. An old rotten wood fence surrounded the house with a path made of sunken boulders acting as steps. Ammy ignored all this and focused her attention on the Devil Gate instead.

Three small green imps and two big yellow ones popped out of the ground and tried their luck at besting the goddess, but they failed completely. Ammy quickly dealt with them and watched with an expression filled with glee as the land right outside the house into a small, blue, beautiful pond with little red koi swimming around it. A small bridge--mainly for decoration--cut across the thinnest section of the mini-lake.

Issun and Ammy both walked across the bridge and stopped about twenty feet of the house. "Huh?" Issun murmured. "What a pretentious sign!" he called out, motioning towards a sign right outside the house. Ammy, however, was focused on the family of pigs snuffling around in the grass to her far left. "Ammy, this here's a dojo," he carried on with, not knowing she wasn't really paying attention. "It's where people come to learn sword-fighting and martial arts." He paused. "But who knows if they'll train you here... Maybe if you're a good wolfy, they'll teach ya a trick or two!" he suggested happily.

She nodded absently and padded in cautiously through the swinging doors, prepared to see what was waiting for her on the other side.

o O o O o O o O o

The dojo only had two rooms.

The first one was a small square with a single door at the very end of it...which was guarded by an old man well into his prime. The part of the room right beside the entrance was nothing but sand, and little stalks of green bamboo grew along the edges. The man stood on a wooden platform with a cane in his hand, his eyes cold and calculating.

Onigiri Sensei, as they called him, had a bent-over hunchback and he walked with a terrible limp. With a bent and gnarled cane in one hand, it was hard to believe that he could be a martial arts teacher. Clad in old gray and yellow clothes, he studied the ivory wolf before him carefully. "Well, what have we here?" he asked, rubbing his bald head and pulling on his long white mustache for a few seconds. "It looks like I have an adorable lupine visitor," he mused good-naturedly. "My name is Onigiri Sensei, and this is my dojo. What business could a wolf like yourself have at a dojo like this? Certainly you haven't come to study the fighting arts with yours truly!" He paused and looked at the wolf with a cold stare. Ammy whined softly. "Ha ha! I like the cut of your jib, my furry friend," he purred. "I'd very much like to wile away the hours at play with you, but I'm afraid that this place is far too dangerous for creatures like you."

Issun, along with Ammy, rolled his eyes.

"That is, of course, unless you can cover the training fee..." he said. Issun quickly produced ten thousand yen from one of his many pockets, flashed it in front of Onigiri Sensei, and grinned. "I'll be a monkey's uncle!" he exclaimed. "You've got the cash, have you? I see... I suppose I have no choice; I'll do as you wish and allow you to enroll in my dojo." The old man watched with greedy brown eyes, and handing over a scroll to Issun, the Poncle quickly put a mark through the technique called 'Fleetfoot.'

Despite his worn-out look and old age, the male human straightened out his back (which made a rather disgusting cracking sound) and tossed his cane casually to the wall. "Are you mentally prepared to handle the ultimate challenge?" he asked in a firm and young tone. "Step inside to test your might." The sensei opened up the doors behind him and allowed Ammy to enter the second room of the two-room dojo, and he quietly shuffled along after her.

o O o O o O o O o

The new room was much like the first, except for the tiny fact that four torches were placed in seperate corners of the room, and, unlike the first, the whole floor was wooden. More bamboo stalks grew along the outer edge of it, and it took Ammy and Issun both a few seconds to realize that the elaborately decorated room was Onigiri Sensei's training room. They stopped in the middle of the room and waited for him to appear, and once he did, he stood in front of them with a hard gaze.

"Let the lesson begin!" he called out sharply. "We'll practice the Fleetfoot god technique. Take these tips to heart and remember them as we train." The older male pulled out a small scroll from behind him and tossed it over to Issun casually. After waiting for a few minutes for him to finish reading it, he asked, "Well? Did you understand?" Issun and Ammy both nodded. "Well, I'll grant you this technique scroll. Check it when you forget what it means to be a warrior. This technique can only be mastered by the best; it is not something to be learned. You must have the innate ability. Train until your muscles ache... And then train some more!"

Ammy quickly went over the scroll in her head and tried to remember exactly what it said. Placing her paws firmly on the ground, she quickly jetted off to the side and spun around. Her claws made contact with the ground, and she ripped up a few pieces of wood. The sensei before her watched with a cold stare as he repeatedly tapped his left shoulder with his twisted cane. Ammy growled lightly and stood with her four legs stiffly on the ground. Sinking her curved and sharp claws into the fine and many grooves in the wooden floor, she raised her hackles and did a backflip back.

Her head nearly touched the ground, and once she felt her hindlegs reach the ground unharmed, she felt a massive wave of relief wash over her. Ammy did a couple more backflips and sidespins until she and Issun both decided they'd had enough. Prepared to bound for the exit, they heard the man say, "Had enough, eh? Listen, wolf. Gaining experience in a single skill is admirable, but you must never lose the drive for self-improvement! I pray that you do not forget that." He gave the wolf a short bow, and once Ammy had returned the gesture, she quickly exited the building and stepped back out into the refreshing air of Shinshu Field.

She allowed the cool and calm breeze to hit her face, and she decided to go with letting the soft wind ruffle up her stunning fur. The flames that weaved in and out each and every one of her hairs on her pelt touched her skin harmlessly, and Issun, with a tired yawn, loosely hung on to her by a few strands of fur. He curled up next to one of her ears and pulled up some fur for warmth.

Ammy smiled.

* * *

**(1) Issun didn't really say 'if you wanna read it, just ask.' He actually said something else that involved opening up the fan menu, etc.**

**You may have noticed a difference in the way everything is later on in the chapter (i.e. the quotes, commas, etc.). That's because I had to reformat my computer and I didn't put micro word back on yet. :/ No idea when chapter four'll hit a fanfiction site near you.**

**HAPPY 2009 EVERYBODY!**

**-Tainted Lullaby**

**January 5th, 2009**


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